Suicide Bomber Kills 15 In Afghanistan

(CBS/AP)  A suicide bomber wearing a burqa killed 15 people and wounding 22 others when he blew himself up Thursday in a crowded market in western Afghanistan, a provincial official said.

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

Afghanistan is battling a Taliban-led insurgency that is strongest in its east and south. Militants launched more than 140 suicide bombings in the country last year, and many of those killed in the attacks were civilians.

At least 1,200 people - mostly militants - have died in insurgency-related violence in 2008, according to a tally compiled by The Associated Press. The U.N. says more than 8,000 people, most of them militants, died in insurgency-related violence in 2007.

Meanwhile, a U.N. rights official says foreign intelligence agents have taken part in secret raids in Afghanistan that have killed civilians.

U.N. envoy Philip Alston told reporters Thursday that he is aware of at least three such recent raids in the country's south and east.

He says no one is taking responsibility for the killings.

He says one raid in January that killed two Afghan brothers was conducted by Afghans and personnel from a U.S. special forces base in Kandahar.

He says Afghan government officials have said the victims had no connection to Taliban insurgents.

Alston says foreign intelligence agencies are operating with "impunity" in certain provinces. He says such operations are "absolutely unacceptable."

[downsteamjim]

Islam, the only major religion that practices human sacrifice, has struck again.

[notblue]

McVet, where did these savages get their training prior to Iraq and the hated Bush? Why do you purposely ignore history, did your memory loss begin seven years ago?

[petro49l]

This is just another example of a fairy queen murdering innocent civilians. Taliban should be treated like dry sticks. They must be broken and burned.

[jersupporter]

Again, MCWheelie takes a story about Afghanistan and spills rhetoric about Iraq and Bush. It does not matter what happens - you will always be troubled. Individual responsibility for your loss of employment and your disability solely lies in your hands and fate. Stop placing blame elsewhere. ACEEPT RESPONSIBILITY. What a whiner

[mcvet]

It seems the enemy is starting to USE the training Bush provided them in Iraq to their advantage here now. WE, the United States, will pay a very high price for allowing the enemy to escape into a Safe Haven while we were off making Billions of Dollars for Bush''s contributors in Iraq. Sieg Heil Bush