Blast kills seven in Afghanistan

KABUL: A Taliban-type improvised bomb ripped through a bazaar in a remote town in northwestern Afghanistan Monday, killing seven civilians and injuring eight others, police said.

The blast in Ghormach district in the province of Faryab was the latest in a string of deadly bombings and suicide attacks since Taliban insurgents announced the start of their spring offensive earlier this month.

A local councillor was among those killed by the remotely-detonated bomb, police spokesman Sayed Massoud Yaqoubi told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but similar incidents have in the past been blamed on the Taliban and other militants fighting to topple Kabul's US-backed government.

Now in its 11th year, the Taliban-led insurgency has expanded to most of the country from their traditional strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan. (AFP)