A suicide bomber on a horse and cart has detonated himself in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing eight people and wounding five others, police have said.

The blast on Thursday evening ripped through a guesthouse sometimes used by foreigners near the provincial health ministry directorate, according to Sazel Ahmad Shairzad, the  deputy provincial police chief.

"Five of the dead were killed while sitting in a car nearby," Shairzad said, the other three dead were passers-by.

The suicide bomber detonated explosives on his body and in his cart after being ordered to stop by police.

Windows in buildings on both sides of the road were blown out, and nearby walls were partially damaged.

Kandahar was the site in late August of a massive truck bomb that killed 43 people and injured another 65, most of them civilians.