Suicide blast slays 40 at Afghan wedding party

KABUL, Afghanistan - At least 40 people were killed and 77 injured by a suicide bomb attack on a packed wedding party in insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.

"A suicide bomber went inside the party where hundreds of people were sitting and blew himself up," a police official said of the blast at around 9:30 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) on Wednesday in Arghandab district, north of Kandahar, where foreign troops are focusing on a push in coming months to whittle out the Taliban.

A Kandahar policeman said many of the guests had links to local police officials or a local militia, which was why it was likely targeted, although the Taliban denied responsibility.