A suicide car bomber killed seven civilians and wounded eight others near the Kandahar Airfield Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks in southern Afghanistan.

Provincial officials said the attacker detonated his explosives-laden vehicle near the gate of the airfield, which is used by foreign and Afghan forces and located on the grounds of the Kandahar International Airport.

Two children were among the seven civilians killed. Women and children were among the wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the group was targeting NATO vehicles. NATO said there were no coalition casualties.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the attack. He said to target women and children was “heartless and coward(ly)” and once again called on the Taliban to stop killing innocent people. The president expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and said he was praying that the wounded recover quickly.

Separately Thursday, President Karzai ordered a probe into reports that six civilians were killed during a recent NATO night operation in the Sauki district of eastern Kunar province. A woman, four children, and a man were reportedly killed in the coalition raid.

On Wednesday, two bomb attacks in southern Helmand province killed at least 16 people.

In Wednesday's first attack, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed 10 civilians and two police officers in the Kajaki district. More than 20 people were wounded in the blast.

The second attack took place hours later in the Nad Ali district, where a remote-controlled bomb killed four people, including an Afghan intelligence official.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the second attack.