KABUL, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber being chased by the police exploded himself in a town of Parwan province in central Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing himself and injuring an innocent butcher, an official at the press department of Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

    Local police suspected a man of belting explosives on his boy and tried to catch him in Gulbahar town, about 70 km north of Afghan capital Kabul, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity, adding the man ran into a butcher shop and blew himself up.

    Parwan province has enjoyed relative calmness this year, although southern provinces and Kabul have suffered from lots of suicide bombings, for which the Taliban have often claimed responsibility.

    Because of inferiority in military equipment and tactics, Taliban and other militants have frequently carried suicide bombings toward foreign and government targets.

    Due to rising Taliban-linked violence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed since the Taliban regime was toppled down nearly five years ago.