Suicide Bomber Strikes in Afghan, 18 Dead

In what could be called a deadly start of President Hamid Karzai’s second term in office, bombers have killed 18 people in Afghanistan.

With this attack, the number of people killed since Karzai assumed office yesterday has come to 30. Karzai has pledged to try to bring peace to the nation and take over security from foreign forces in five years.

According to report, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck the capital of the southwestern province of Farah, killing 15 people, while a roadside bomb killed three civilians in the east.

The Taliban-led insurgency against the Western-backed government is at its deadliest in the eight years since US-led troops ousted their regime and is slowly encroaching into once peaceful parts of the north and west.