Suicide attack kills 15 Afghans, President Karzai blames mercenaries

A suicide bombing rocked Afghanistan' s Maimana city, the capital of northwest Faryab province, on Tuesday, killing 15 civilians. President Hamid Karzai has strongly condemned the bombing. The president, in a statement released by his office hours after the bloody incident, blamed the foreign mercenaries for the attack and condemned it in the strongest term. "Those behind such crimes against humanity are mercenaries working to materialize the malicious designs of foreigners by killing Muslims and conspiring to make Afghanistan insecure," President Karzai said in the statement. In the statement, the president, besides strongly denouncing the deadly suicide bombing and expressing sympathy with the families of the victims, instructed the ministry of public health and the provincial governor to provide adequate medical treatment to those injured in the attack. Earlier, the governor of Faryab province Mohammad Allah Baktash confirmed the incident and said the suicide bomber riding an explosive-laden Rickshaw blew himself up among civilians in the morning rush hours, killing 15 people, all civilians, and injuring 27 others. The governor put the attack on the enemies of peace, a term used by officials against Taliban militants. According to the locals, the bloody suicide bombing happened amid preparation by people to celebrate Nawroz or Afghan New Year, in Persian calendar falling on Friday. No group has claimed responsibility for the bloody suicide bombing. However, Taliban militants fighting the government have termed Nawroz festival as un-Islamic and banned it during its rule which collapsed in late 2001.