Large suicide car bomb strikes NATO base in Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - A large suicide car bomb has struck a joint Afghan-NATO military base in eastern Paktia province, officials say, according to BBC News.

No deaths were reported but officials said at least 10 members of the Afghan army were injured. NATO spokesman Maj Adam Wojack said no casualties were reported among the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Foreign forces are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014, which has sparked fears of a surge in violence.

An ISAF spokesman said the combat outpost in Zurmat district was attacked by "insurgents using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device".

Abdul Raman Mangal, deputy governor of Paktia province, put the number of injured soldiers at 45. He said the base had sustained damage.

Provincial government spokesman Rohullah Samon said the bomb appeared to have gone off before the driver reached the camp's gates. He said most of the wounded soldiers had been in rooms that collapsed from the force of the explosion, which shattered windows up to 3km (2 miles) away.