A suicide car bomber attempting to strike foreign troops in southern Afghanistan blew up his vehicle near a hotel on Thursday, killing three Afghan civilians and wounding 17, police said.

Ahmed Shah, a police officer, said the bomber had tried to strike a convoy of NATO-led foreign troops on the outskirts of the city, but his bomb detonated prematurely.

A doctor at a nearby hospital, Ibrahim, who uses only one name, said three dead bodies had arrived at the morgue and 14 victims were being treated for wounds.

Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city, is the birthplace of the Taliban movement against the invasion of "foreigners". US and Canadian forces patrol the city as part of a NATO-led force.

 Reuters