KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A car bombing outside a sports stadium in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Friday killed 12 people and wounded 40 others, an official said.

Aminullah Abed, the chief of the province's public health department, said the casualties were received at a hospital in the province's capital, Lashkar Gah, with many of the wounded burnt beyond recognition.

The explosion occurred after Afghan new year celebrations were winding down and revelers were on their way home, he added.

The office of Afghan president Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning the "brutal terrorist attack."