A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed at least 12 people and injured many more in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, a spokesman for Norwegian armed forces told AFP.

"There are many dead and injured. The numbers I have for the time being are at least 12 killed, but this number is not definitive," Lieutenant Colonel John Espen Lien said, adding that no Norwegian soldiers in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were nearby when the blast occurred. Most of the foreign forces in Faryab province are Norwegians.