KANDAHAR, Aug 28, SPA -- A suicide bombing rippedthrough a crowded market in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 17 people and wounding 47, a hospital official said. The suicide bomber carrying explosives walked into the market opposite a police station in Lashkar Gah, thecapital of the southern Helmand province, and blew himself up, said Ghulam Muheddin, the provincial governor's spokesman. Hanif Khan, a local hospital official, said the blastkilled 17 persons and wounded 47, six critically, according to a report of the Associated Press.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/385513