Three Afghans dead in new blast at U.S. base in Afghan east

Wed, Dec 26 07:16 AM EST 1 of 2 By Elyas Wahdat KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees. The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in the eastern town of Khost, saying they had sent a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives to the base. "The target was those who serve Americans at that base," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Afghanistan's NATO-led force said the bomber did not get into the base nor breach its perimeter. Police said the three dead were Afghans who were outside the base, which is beside a military airport. The al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, widely regarded as the most dangerous U.S. foe in Afghanistan, is active in Khost province, which is on the Pakistani border. After more than a decade of war, Taliban insurgents are still able to strike strategic military targets, and launch high-profile attacks in the capital, Kabul, and elsewhere. Three years ago, an al Qaeda-linked Jordanian double-agent killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer in a suicide bombing at the same base in Khost, known as Forward Operating Base Chapman. It was the second deadliest attack in CIA history. Afghan police official General Abdul Qasim Baqizoy, the Khost police chief, said no CIA agents were hurt on Wednesday. Afghan authorities are scrambling to improve security across the country before the U.S. combat mission ends in 2014. Besides pressure from the Taliban, U.S.-led NATO forces also face a rising number of so-called insider attacks, in which Afghan forces turn their weapons on Western troops they are supposed to be working with. On Monday, an Afghan policewoman killed a U.S. police adviser at the Kabul police headquarters, raising troubling questions about the direction of the war. It appeared to be the first time that a woman member of Afghanistan's security forces carried out such an attack. On Tuesday, Afghan officials said the woman has an Iranian passport and moved to Afghanistan 10 years ago. There was no suggestion that Iran was involved in the attack on the American. Officials suspect she may have been recruited by al Qaeda or the Taliban, and had intended to also kill Afghan police officials. (Reporting by Elyas Wahdat; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)

At least 14 killed in suicide attack on NATO patrol in Afghanistan

Mon, 1 Oct 2012 08:43 GMT Source: reuters // Reuters (Updates toll, details) KABUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 14 people, including three NATO soldiers and four police, and wounded 37 in Afghanistan's volatile eastern Khost province on Monday, a NATO spokeswoman and local officials said. Six civilians and an Afghan interpreter also died in the attack. A witness told Reuters a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform struck as U.S. soldiers patrolled the city of Khost. A NATO spokeswoman confirmed only that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. Provincial Governor Abdul Jabar Nahimi said the bomber had been riding a motorcycle packed with explosives and 37 civilians were wounded in the blast. The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility, although Afghan insurgents are quick to claim any successful attack on foreign troops as their own. The bombing followed the killing of two Americans on Sunday in an exchange of fire with Afghan forces that took the death toll of U.S. military and civilian personnel to over 2,000 in the 11-year war. Insider attacks by members of the Afghan security forces against NATO allies have resulted in 52 deaths this year among foreign forces and this month prompted a tightening of rules for joint patrols between coalition and Afghan forces. (Reporting by Elyas Wahdat; Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Siege at Afghan police compound kills five-governor

22 May 2011 11:54

Source: reuters // Reuters

* Siege ends with five police, soldiers killed

* Four insurgents killed during bold assault

* Vioelnce spikes across Afghanistan (Updates after siege ends, changes dateline, adds byline)

By Elyas Wahdat

KHOST, Afghanistan, May 22 (Reuters) - Four Taliban suicide bombers killed five members of the Afghan security forces during a siege in a police building in Afghanistan's volatile east on Sunday, officials said, the latest in a series of brazen, high-profile attacks.

The insurgents were holed up inside a police building in the eastern city of Khost, near the Pakistan border, for several hours before the siege was brought to an end when Afghan troops stormed the building.

"Two Afghan soldiers and three policemen were killed," Abdul Jabar Naeemi, the governor of Khost province, told Reuters.

Earlier, Mohammad Yaqub, the deputy police chief for Khost, said at least two explosions and gunfire had been heard soon after the bold attack was launched.

Violence has spiked across Afghanistan in recent weeks since the Taliban announced the start of their long-awaited "spring offensive", with attacks against supposedly secure targets across the country.

In Kabul, a suicide bomber killed six medical students in an attack inside the cafeteria of the main military hospital in a heavily guarded area of the capital on Saturday. More than 20 were wounded. [ID:nL4E7GL063]

U.S. commanders had also warned of a spike in violence this month as the Taliban try to push back against military gains against insurgents in the south over the past 18 months.

GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS

Naeemi said two of the suicide bombers blew themselves up during the siege and the others two were shot dead before they could detonate their explosives.

The attack was launched in the traffic control centre in a police compound in the centre of Khost city, although fighting tailed off several hours later as security forces surrounded the building.

Khost police chief Abdul Hakim Esaaqzai said the attackers were wearing border police uniforms. He said Afghan troops had entered the building to bring the siege to an end.

Television pictures showed at least one building on fire as Afghan soldiers skirted beneath a high wall on the outside of the compound.

Several members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were also seen further back from the building.

A car packed with explosives was found near the building and was being taken away to be defused, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemari Bashary.

The surge in violence comes as U.S. and NATO forces prepare to begin a gradual troop drawdown and handover of security responsibility to Afghans from July.

The process is set to end with the withdrawal of the last foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

Despite the presence of 150,000 foreign troops, violence across Afghanistan in 2010 hit its worst levels since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in KABUL; Writing by Paul Tait; Editing by Alex Richardson)