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Attack on joint base injures 11 soldiers (Video)

author avatar
18 Oct 2012 - 15:31
author avatar
18 Oct 2012 - 15:31

GARDEZ (PAN): Eleven Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on a US-Afghan military base in southeastern Paktia province on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence said.

The blast took place at around 7:15am when the bomber crashed his explosives-laden car into the entrance to the joint military base in Zurmat district, 22 kilometres from the provincial capital Gardez.

Eight people, including children in nearby houses, were wounded in the heavy blast that smashed windowpanes of houses in a 10-km radius, said the district’s administrative chief, Agha Gul Ahmadzai.

The injured evacuated to the district clinic were in stable condition, Dr. Haji Mohammad said.

Ministry of Defence official Col. Abdullah Abid said 11 ANA soldiers were wounded in the blast. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Governor Abdul Rahman Mangal said 45 Afghan soldiers had been wounded in the suicide car bombing.

An Afghan employee on the base said an explosives-packed was detonated near the eastern wall of the facility, injuring 30 ANA soldiers, nine of them critically.

The soldiers were wounded as their barracks collapsed as a result of the heavy blast, he explained, saying the injured were airlifted to hospital by foreign troops.

The explosion jolted the area and damaged the spy blimp of US troops in the area, witness Nasimullah said, adding a girl was died of heart failed due to the blast.

Their house was rocked by the blast, said Roohullah, a resident of Gardez. “We thought it was an earthquake, but later we were informed that it was an explosion.”

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said one of their fighters detonated his car at the entrance to the military base, allowing others to enter the facility and fight against the security personnel for several hours.

Many Afghan and foreign soldiers suffered casualties in the clash and suicide attack, he said without giving specific figures.

By: Dawood Tapan and Obaidullah Hussam

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