A car bomb exploded near a busy shopping area in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar Sunday, killing at least nine people and wounding 19 others. The latest attack comes a day after a United Nations report said that 2011 was the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the U.S.-led invasion began in 2001, and that the civilian population were often the targets of killings rather than mere collateral damage in military strikes. More than 3,000 civilians were killed in the country last year.
