KABUL (Agencies) – The Taliban launched a pre-dawn attack on a major NATO base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, triggering a firefight with foreign and Afghan forces that left eight militants dead.
Another 10 people, including three children, were killed in a motorcycle bombing at a market in a remote area of northern Afghanistan in an attack apparently targeting a local pro-government militia leader.
NATO later announced that three foreign troops were killed in southern Afghanistan after an insurgent attack, without giving further details.
The Taliban said 14 suicide bombers were involved in the strike on the base at Jalalabad Airport, which was the target of a similar attack in June. But the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said only one was wearing a suicide vest.
“The forward operating base received small arms fire from an unknown number of insurgents and after gaining positive identification of insurgent fighting positions an ANA (Afghan National Army) and ISAF quick reaction force was sent to the area,” it said.
Hours later, 10 people, including three children, were killed and 18 others were wounded when a motorcycle packed with explosives detonated in a market in the remote Imam Saheb district of northern Kunduz province.
District chief Mohammad Ayoub Haqyar told AFP that the explosion bore the hallmarks of previous Taliban attacks but there was no immediate confirmation of responsibility.
A pro-government militia commander was among the dead and was the likely target, he added. “It’s too early to say (for certain) but we believe Commander Abdul Manan could have been the target. He was killed,” said Haqyar.
A second motorcycle bomb attack on Saturday wounded five people, including a child, in the southern city of Kandahar, a security official and a local hospital doctor said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location that 14 suicide bombers were involved in the attacks and that as many as 30 foreign soldiers had been killed.
Just north of Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, Taliban insurgents fought Afghan and ISAF troops in Kunar province for several hours. Three Taliban fighters were killed, ISAF said.