Suicide bomber dressed in burqa kills 15

An official says a suicide bomber wearing a burqa killed 15 people and wounded 22 others in a crowded market in western Afghanistan.

Farah province official Younus Rasoul said the bomber struck in Dilaram district today. Three policemen, including a district police chief, and 12 civilians were among the dead. Police tried to stop the bomber seconds before he exploded, Rasoul said.

Afghanistan is battling a raging Taliban-led insurgency.

At least 1,200 people – mostly militants – have died in insurgency-related violence in 2008, according to a tally. The UN says more than 8,000 people, most of them militants, died in insurgency-related violence in 2007.