KABUL, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - A suicide bomber killed four police officers and 12 civilians in a busy bazaar in southwestern Afghanistan's Farah province on Thursday, a police spokesman said.

A total of 28 people, including six police officers, were wounded in the attack in the province's volatile Delaram District. The suicide bomber is believed to have been a woman and the target a passing police patrol.

The radical Islamic Taliban movement, which ruled the country for five years before being toppled by a U.S.-led coalition force in 2001, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The movement recently pledged to step up suicide attacks in a bid to undermine the Afghan government.