The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Kandahar

A provincial governor said Monday he had warned an anti-Taliban militia leader targeted in Afghanistan's deadliest suicide attack since the 2001 invasion that militants were trying to kill him. The death toll rose to more than 100.Afghans buried relatives and friends in the southern city of Kandahar on Monday, a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of men and boys watching a dog fighting competition. Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid told The Associated Press the death toll had risen to more than 100, up from 80. Most victims were killed immediately, though some of the scores of Afghans critically wounded had died, Khalid said. He did not give a precise toll. The bombing was the deadliest in Afghanistan since the Taliban's ouster from power in 2001 and follows a year of record violence and predictions the conflict could turn even deadlier in 2008. Officials said the suicide attacker targeted a militia leader, Abdul Hakim Jan, who died in the attack, along with 35 of his men. Khalid told mourners at a mosque he had warned Jan about three weeks ago that militant suicide bombers were trying to target him.