By DPA,
Kabul : A group of Taliban militants, including suicide bombers, attacked a US military base in southeast Afghanistan but were pushed back by Afghan and foreign forces using airstrikes, officials said Tuesday.
The attack late Monday against Camp Salerno, a US military base in Khost province, came hours after a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-filled vehicle outside the same base, killing 10 civilians and wounding 13.
Afghan and US military forces were still clashing with a group of “fleeing Taliban” who tried to enter the base, Arsala Jamal, provincial governor, told DPA Tuesday.
The governor said the militants stormed the base but were pushed back by Afghan and international forces using airstrikes.
“Some of the attackers were exploding their explosives tied around their bodies before the forces could arrest them,” he said, citing Afghan army commanders on the ground.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed a group of 15 suicide bombers entered the base and killed and wounded a large number of soldiers.
“Fifteen of our mujahideen, all equipped with light and heavy weapons, entered the military base and attacked several compounds inside the base, where the foreign forces were staying,” Mujahid said in a statement posted at a Taliban website.