(RTTNews) - A motorcycle-borne suicide-bomber blew himself up Friday in Farah, a town in Afghanistan's southwestern province of Farah, killing more than 15 persons and wounding dozens of others, many of them children, officials said.

The assailant struck in the center of Farah town in an area of Ada Herat where heavy trucks were being loaded up with goods to be transported to neighboring Herat province, police said. The death toll is likely to increase, as more than 12 persons were critically injured.

Rohul Amin, governor of Farah, said the explosion was set off about 50 meters from his compound. It damaged some nearby buildings, he added.
The attack occurred a day after Hamid Karzai was sworn in as the country's President for a second five-year term, pledging to bring about peace to the war-torn and land-locked Southwest Asian nation, and take over security from foreign forces in five years.

Farah, a mainly desert province bordering Iran, is one of the areas that was experiencing a spike in insurgent attacks this year, as members of the Taliban spread to the west and north from their traditional bases in the south and the east.

by RTT Staff Writer

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