US military base in Afghanistan attacked

Taliban militants have attacked a US military base and an airport in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, security officials say.

Nangarhar provincial police commander Obidullah Talwar confirmed the attack without giving further information about the raid or its casualties.

Fourteen bombers were involved in the assault, Reuters quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying on Saturday.

Witnesses say they saw smoke rising from the airport — one of NATO’s main airbases — and heard explosions caused by the attack.

At least six Taliban attackers were killed during the Saturday raid.

“Six attackers have been killed — two of them died blowing themselves up and four others were killed by security forces,” government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzoi said.

On Thursday, Taliban militants also ambushed a NATO convey in the troubled southern Afghanistan, killing at least six Afghan security guards and wounding several others.

Afghan officials say the attack took place in the Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand Province, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Two NATO vehicles were destroyed in the fatal attack.

The security situation continues to deteriorate in war-torn Afghanistan with foreign and Afghan forces falling prey to Taliban militants on a near-daily basis.

At least 634 foreign troops have lost their lives in Afghanistan so far, making 2010 the deadliest year for US-led forces since the 2001 invasion.

Civilian and foreign casualties are at record levels despite the presence of around 150,000 foreign troops and mercenaries in Afghanistan.