Afghanistan: Bomb in Market Kills 8

On a day when the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said his country intended to strengthen its military presence in the NATO force in Afghanistan, a car bomb exploded at a crowded farmers’ market in southern Afghanistan, killing eight civilians and wounding 17, Afghan officials said.

 There was no military or police target, said Muhammad Hussain Andiwal, the police chief of Helmand Province.

The explosion, at Babaji, near the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, was detonated by remote control, Mr. Andiwal said in a telephone interview. “I don’t know the aim of the militants; I think they love to kill innocent people,” he said.