DHAKA: A suicide bomber killed 15 people including women and children in a northern Afghan market Wednesday, as militants intensify their annual summer offensive despite nascent peace talks.

The attack in Almar district of Faryab province, bordering Turkmenistan, highlights the heavy toll of such attacks on civilians after 13 years of war.

No group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, which comes just before another round of peace negotiations between the government and Taliban militants are due to start.

‘This morning a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest in a market in Almar,’ Faryab governor Abdul Sattar Barez told the media, reports TDS.

‘Our information shows at least 15 people were killed in the attack, including women and children and at least one Afghan army soldier,’ he said, adding that around 38 others were wounded.

Almar district chief Saleh Mohammad Saleh confirmed the death toll.

BDST: 1636 HRS, JULY 22, 2015
RR