KABUL, September 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai survived uninjured shots fired near him Thursday, September 5, in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, as the massive car bomb that ripped through central Afghanistan left 30 people dead.

"The President is safe and is still in Kandahar," an Afghan official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) by phone from Kandahar.

But governor Gul Agha Sherzai was injured in the shooting.

Security officials say this is not the first attempt at Karzai’s life. They claim to have foiled a massive car bomb plot in late July to assassinate Karzai or other senior government ministers.

But Karzai had insisted in late July that "the security situation in Afghanistan is quite alright".

The mid-afternoon explosion near the culture and information ministry in Kabul, the worst attack in post-Taliban Afghanistan, left "up to 30 people dead and 50 injured," government spokesman Omar Samad told a press conference in the capital.

"The figure is rising because the injured are dying," he added.

Thursday’s blast is the latest in a series of explosions in Kabul in recent weeks.

It comes just a few days after former Afghan prime minister and Hizb-I-Islami (Islamic Party) leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar called on the Afghan people, especially, the Pashtun tribes in southeastern Afghanistan to revolt against U.S. troops in the country and stressed that: “Our only aim is for foreign troops to quit Afghanistan and for the Afghan people to decide their own future.”

In the tape recording, made available to the media Tuesday evening, September 3, Hekmatyar said: “We announce our full solidarity with the people of the southeastern provinces; we condemn U.S. atrocities against our people; and we call on all Afghans to stand up against Americans like they did with the Russians,” stressing that Afghanistan’s problems could only be solved by popular resistance to the American presence.

Urging Pashtuns to carry on with Jihad, Hekmatyar said: “You set an example with your Jihad against the Russians; do the same with the Americans,” reminding them that the attacks on U.S. troops in Khost and the massive anti-U.S. demonstrations are evidence the people of Afghanistan are bent on starting Jihad.

“The Americans succeeded in toppling the Taliban regime, but they will never be able to occupy Afghanistan forever,” said Hekmatyar. “You can see for your eyes how resistance to the U.S. presence is spreading out.”

The Turkish commander of ISAF, Major General Akin Zorlu, told reporters recently that rebel groups, including followers of the ousted Taliban, could be behind the series of explosions.

"The Taliban and Al-Qaeda are seeking opportunities to mount attacks to destabilize the situation and to prove that they are still active," he told a press conference at ISAF's Kabul headquarters.

Zorlu said Hekmatyar’s followers could also be behind such attacks in Kabul.

"Members of … Hezb-i-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are also seeking the same opportunities," he said.

Earlier Thursday, a military official in Kabul had told AFP that security had been bolstered across the city in response to specific security threats.

The road leading to the German embassy was closed to traffic and the main entry to ISAF headquarters, which lies opposite the U.S. embassy, was partially closed.