KANDAHAR — A suicide bomber targeting a foreign military convoy in Afghanistan killed 37 civilians in an attack near the Pakistan border yesterday, the interior ministry said.

The attack, a day after more than 100 people were killed in the deadliest suspected suicide raid since the Taleban were overthrown in 2001, comes as some Western politicians call for a stronger resolve to stop Afghanistan sliding back into anarchy.

“The suicide attack ... caused the killing of 37 non-combatants and wounding of 30 others,” the ministry said in a statement in Kabul.

The attack happened on a narrow bridge in the bustling town of Spin Boldak in southern Kandahar province, a stronghold for Taleban insurgents fighting the Afghan government and its Western backers.

Kandahar’s Gov. Assadullah Khalid told a news conference the bomber was in a car and had attacked a convoy of Canadian troops serving under NATO’s command. Four Canadians were wounded, he said. But another official from the area said two foreign soldiers also died.

A NATO spokesman in Kabul confirmed the blast, but refused to provide more details. Several fuel shops were on fire in Spin Boldak after the bombing, witnesses said. Despite the presence of more than 50,000 foreign soldiers led by NATO and the US military, as well as some 140,000 Afghan troops, Taleban militants have made a comeback in the past two years and more than 11,000 people have been killed in violence.

Sunday’s attack happened as a crowd of people was watching dog fights in Arghandab, on the western outskirts of Kandahar city. Dozens of victims were buried side-by-side in a mourning ceremony yesterday.

Provincial Gov. Khalid has accused the Taleban of the attack, but the insurgents denied responsibility.

Khalid said he had intelligence about the attack and had tipped off the Canadian forces about it.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday she saw no need to change parliamentary mandates limiting the number of troops her government can send to Afghanistan, despite mounting pressure from NATO allies.

“We are not changing the mandates as they are at the moment,” Merkel told reporters. “I see no need for a change at the moment.”

Germany, which has roughly 3,300 troops in Afghanistan, is under pressure from allies, particularly the United States, to send additional soldiers and shift them from the north to the more dangerous south to help battle Taleban insurgents.

The main mandate, due to expire in October, allows Germany to send a maximum of 3,500 soldiers to Afghanistan. German media have reported Merkel’s government seeks to increase the number of troops.