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Suicide bomber kills 15 in Afghanistan


    HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives in a crowded area in southwest Afghanistan on Friday, killing 15 people, including a senior police official, Afghan authorities said.

    Farah Province Police Chief Faqir Mohammad Askar said the target of the attack in the provincial capital Farah City was the police official, who was among those killed along with two of his police bodyguards.

    Abdul Jabar Shayeq, head of the city's main hospital, said 15 people had died and 31 were wounded.

    Farah, a mainly desert province along the border with Iran, is one of the areas that has seen a rise in insurgent attacks this year as Taliban militants have spread to the west and north from their traditional bases in the south and east.

    A press officer for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan said Western troops were aware of the strike but had not been involved and could give no details.

    (Reporting by Sharaffuddin Sharafyar; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Alex Richardson)