A suicide car bomb attack outside a university in southern Afghanistan on Monday killed at least seven people and wounded more than 20.

A suicide car bomb attack outside a university in southern Afghanistan on Monday killed at least seven people and wounded more than 20, officials said.

The attack happened in Kandahar city in front of Kandahar University, around two kilometers from the former compound of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, which is now used as a base by US special forces, provincial police chief General Abdul Razaq told AFP.

"This evening a suicide car bomb exploded near Kandahar university, killing seven civilians and wounding 23 others." he said.

The provincial governor's spokesman Jawed Faisal confirmed the death toll and said most of the victims were Afghans working at the US base.

The target of the blast is not known, but high-ranking government officials study at the university in the evenings.