A suicide bomber killed 15 people including women and children Wednesday when he blew himself up in a northern Afghan market

A suicide bomber killed 15 people including women and children Wednesday when he blew himself up in a northern Afghan market.

The attack in Almar district of Faryab province, bordering Turkmenistan, highlights the heavy toll of such attacks on civilians after 13 years of war.

No group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, which comes just before another round of peace negotiations between the government and Taliban militants are due to start.

"This morning a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest in a market in Almar," Faryab governor Abdul Sattar Barez told AFP.

"Our information shows at least 15 people were killed in the attack, including women and children and at least one Afghan army soldier," he said, adding that around 38 others were wounded.

Almar district chief Saleh Mohammad Saleh confirmed the death toll, adding that some of the wounded were in a critical condition.

"We had received intelligence report that a suicide attacker has entered the market in Almar, so we set up a police check point to search for him," local police commmander Saif, who goes by one name, told AFP.

"We were looking for him when he blew himself up near an armoured military vehicle," Saif said, adding that the attacker was aged between 20 and 25.