Car bomb hits army base in eastern Afghanistan
A suicide car bomb detonated near an army base in the eastern Afghan province of Khost on Friday, killing one soldier and wounding several before the army repelled at attack on the base by four gunmen, the district chief said.
The blast, 50 metres (yards) from the base, was heard several miles away and damaged several shops, homes and a school, Akbar Zadran, the chief of Sabari district, told Reuters.
Four gunmen attacked the base but were killed after an hour-long gun battle, Zadran said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.The attack follows an assault on a military air base in Khost province last week, and comes just ahead of the normal start of the spring fighting season, when Taliban Islamist insurgents and the Afghan army step up operations.
