KABUL, Afghanistan  A suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a crowded marketplace in a relatively peaceful part of western Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 15 people, while a well-known former warlord and member of Parliament narrowly survived an assassination attempt on the outskirts of Kabul.
The legislator, Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf, has many enemies from his days as a fighter, when he was accused of serious violations of human rights, and several people said privately that there were many besides the Taliban who might have wanted to kill him.
The blast in western Afghanistan occurred around 9 a.m. Friday, close to the compound of the provincial governor, and also wounded 35 people. One of the dead was a police officer, said the governor, Rohul Ameen.
“The suicide bomber just wanted to kill civilians,” Mr. Ameen said. “This is inhuman and an un-Islamic act being carried out by cowardly people.”
Afghan police said today that a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle blew himself up in the southwestern part of the country today, killing at least sixteen people. Two children and one police officer were among the dead, and dozens of others were injured.

Location of Afghanistan on globe 
Afghan officials say the suicide bomber targeted a busy area of the city of Farah, which is the capital of a province by the same name. The provincial governor, Rohullah Amin, told the Voice of America news agency that the blast occurred near his compound and shattered his office's windows.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Amin suggested that attacks such as these are the hallmark of the Taliban.

In two separate incidents in the eastern part of Afghanistan, two roadside bombs also killed at least four people. The violence comes a day after Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term as president.