2nd LD Writethru: 12 killed, 32 injured in N. Afghan suicide bombing

About 12 people were killed while 32 others wounded after a suicide bomb attack hit a busy marketplace in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab on Wednesday, police said.

The attack took place in the morning in the Almar district's bazaar, provincial police spokesman Sayyed Massoud Yaqobi told Xinhua.

"The attacker detonated an explosive-laden motorcycle at the middle of the bazaar when a security forces'convoy was passing by the area," he said.

The casualties were shifted to district hospital by ambulances and police vehicles.

A majority of the victims were civilians and the attacker also died on the spot, Yaqobi said, adding that "the number of casualties might further rise as several injured were in critical condition."

On Tuesday, security forces cleared from the militants several villages in surrounding areas of Almar district, which is located in the western part of the provincial capital Maimana city. "The attack could be retaliation by militants to the latest military operations in Almar, during which several militants were killed and wounded,"he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident so far.

The province, some 425 km northwest of Afghan capital, has been the scene of heavy clashes between the Taliban militants and security forces over the past couple of weeks.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since mid April when the militant group launched its so-called annual spring offensive in different places of the militancy-plagued Afghanistan which had claimed hundreds of lives including militants, security personnel and civilians. Endi