Kabul, June 30: Several Taliban militants have attacked one of the biggest US-led bases in eastern Afghanistan, detonating a car bomb at the facility’s entrance, an official says.
Attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at the base on Wednesday morning, and reports say the fighting continues, AFP reported.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed that several militants were killed during the attack on Jalalabad base, but there were no casualties among NATO or civilian staff.
“Jalalabad airfield is under attack,” said Lieutenant-Commander Iain Baxter. “It is still going on.”
“The attackers used a car bomb, RPG and small arms fire. They detonated the car bomb but it did not reach the perimeter,” he said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to AFP.
Meanwhile, CNN quoted Mujahid as saying that men wearing explosive vests entered the airfield, killing 32 foreigners.
Jalalabad is one of NATO’s largest bases in Afghanistan, after Kandahar in the south and Bagram near Kabul, which have both been attacked by militants in recent months.
—Agencies