Kabul : A suicide car bomb attack injured five Afghan soldiers in the Taliban’s former stronghold in the southern Kandahar province Saturday, provincial authorities said in a statement.
“A terrorist riding an explosive-laden car blew it up next to Azizullah national army base in Maiwand district at around 8 a.m., wounding five Afghan soldiers,” Xinhua quoted the statement as saying.
The bomber was killed in the blast, it added.
Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the attack.
Earlier, senior army officer in Kandahar province General Abdul Hamid told Xinhua that “Terrorists targeted Azizullah Military Base with car bomb leaving five soldiers injured”.
However, he could not confirm if it was a suicide car bomb, adding that an investigation has been launched to determine whether the blast was a suicide car bomb or a remote-controlled one.
But in a statement posted on the outfit’s web site, the Taliban insisted that a suicide bomber named Ahmad Shah exploded his explosive-laden car at the Afghan army base in Azim Jan Kariz area of Maiwand district, inflicting huge casualties and damaging property, a claim dismissed by officials as groundless.