Amir Shah, Canadian Press
Published: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
KABUL - A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 10 people and wounding 14 others, an Afghan official said.
The bomber, who also died, triggered explosives strapped to his chest in the middle of a group of Afghan men who were lining up outside the base in the city of Khost, said Jamal Arsalah, the governor of Khost province.
Maj. Matt Hackathorn, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed the blast. He said there was no immediate word of any U.S. military casualties.
Jamal said the Afghan casualties were civilian workers waiting outside the U.S. military base.
Suicide attacks have become much more frequent as Taliban militants have intensified their insurgency against Afghan government and foreign troops backing them. According to U.S. military figures, there were 139 suicide attacks during 2006, up from 27 in 2005. Most of the victims have been civilians.
Khost is a former al-Qaida stronghold on the mountainous Pakistani border that has been a focus of militant activity.
Afghan and western officials say that insurgents use the tribal areas of neighbouring Pakistan as sanctuaries from where they organize and launch operations in Afghanistan.
However, Pakistan argues that only remnants of Taliban and al-Qaida remain on its side of the border and complain that it gets too little recognition for deploying thousands of troops in the border region. On Monday, a suicide car bomber killed four Pakistani soldiers in North Waziristan, across the frontier from Khost.
Senior U.S. officials have warned that fighting in Afghanistan is likely to surge again this spring, as warmer weather clears snow from mountain passes and militants try to weaken the grip of President Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government.
