Kandahar, Jan. 31 (Reuters): At least 18 people were killed near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar today when a minibus packed with civilians hit an anti-tank mine rigged to a mortar bomb, officials said.

Police blamed the al Qaida network of Osama bin Laden, but others said it could have been the work of Taliban fighters or a renegade warlord whose men came under a massive United States-led attack in the area earlier in the week.