Two suicide bombers struck a joint U.S.-Afghan military base in central Afghanistan early Saturday morning, killing 12 people, authorities said. The dawn attack, in Wardak province, destroyed houses and much of a local bazaar, eyewitnesses reported.
The first bombing was carried out by a fighter on foot, followed by a huge blast from a truck bomb that destroyed much of a local bazaar near the NATO base in Wardak province's Sayedabad district, police said. There are fears of a surge in violence when foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014.
No international coalition service members died in the attack in Sayedabad district, according to Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force. Ghulam Farouq Mukhlis, the provincial public health director, told AFP that at least 43 civilians were admitted to local hospitals.
Ten people were evacuated to the capital Kabul for "serious injuries", Mukhlis added. A Western military official close to the Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) who spoke anonymously told AFP that two Isaf soldiers were wounded in the blasts.
The Taliban, which took responsibility for the Saturday morning attack, said it had dispatched two suicide bombers, one travelling on foot and another in an explosives-laden truck. Zabihullah Mujahed, a spokesman for the Taliban fighters, claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to AFP.
There were 1,145 people killed and 1,954 injured in the first six months of this year, the report found. That's down from 1,510 killed and 2,144 injured in the same period a year earlier. Nato, which currently has some 130,000 troops in Afghanistan, is due to withdraw combat forces in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, with only training troops remaining.
The first bombing was carried out by a fighter on foot, followed by a huge blast from a truck bomb that destroyed much of a local bazaar near the NATO base in Wardak province's Sayedabad district, police said. There are fears of a surge in violence when foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014.
No international coalition service members died in the attack in Sayedabad district, according to Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force. Ghulam Farouq Mukhlis, the provincial public health director, told AFP that at least 43 civilians were admitted to local hospitals.
Ten people were evacuated to the capital Kabul for "serious injuries", Mukhlis added. A Western military official close to the Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) who spoke anonymously told AFP that two Isaf soldiers were wounded in the blasts.
The Taliban, which took responsibility for the Saturday morning attack, said it had dispatched two suicide bombers, one travelling on foot and another in an explosives-laden truck. Zabihullah Mujahed, a spokesman for the Taliban fighters, claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to AFP.
There were 1,145 people killed and 1,954 injured in the first six months of this year, the report found. That's down from 1,510 killed and 2,144 injured in the same period a year earlier. Nato, which currently has some 130,000 troops in Afghanistan, is due to withdraw combat forces in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, with only training troops remaining.
