Afghan Bomber on Motorcycle Kills 16

KABUL, Afghanistan — A day after President Hamid Karzai offered a more inclusive government to counter violence in his second term, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a crowded marketplace in western Afghanistan, close to the compound of the provincial governor, that official said Friday.

The blast, which occurred around 9 a.m., killed 15 people and wounded 35. One of the dead was a police officer, the governor, Rohul Ameen, said in a telephone interview.

“It was a very sad incident against civilians,” Mr. Ameen said. “The suicide bomber just wanted to kill civilians. This is inhuman and an un-Islamic act being carried out by cowardly people.”