A suicide bomb attack outside a NATO base killed seven civilians in southeastern Afghanistan today, a local official said, a day after Taliban gunmen and bombers mounted a brazen strike in the same town.
Violence in Afghanistan has surged to its worst level since US-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001, despite increasing numbers of foreign troops.
Another 21 civilians were wounded in today's attack by a suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives. An official from the province of the same name said all the victims were labourers working at the NATO base on the outskirts of Khost township.
"US forces ... have encircled the area. The toll may rise," provincial official Wazir Padshah said by telephone.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties among NATO-led troops.
Khost, on the porous southeastern border with Pakistan and separated by mountains from the rest of Afghanistan, houses a large base for NATO troops, mainly from the United States.
Reuters