Talibanguerillas
At least 35 construction workers have been killed and 20 others wounded when Taliban insurgents ambushed their convoy in eastern Afghanistan in the latest attack by the al-Qaeda-linked bandits. REUTERS/Parwiz Parwiz

Taliban fighters attacked a NATO military base in Eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of Saturday. Eight insurgents, including two with suicide vests on, were killed in a gun battle with the Afghan and International forces. This is the second such attack on NATO bases in the past six months.

Afghan National Army and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) repelled an insurgent attack on an ISAF forward operating base in Behsud district, Nangarhar province on Saturday, a statement released by the ISAF said. Initial reports also suggest that no foreign or Afghan forces were killed in the attack. The Nato base which has more than 2,500 forces is one of largest bases in Afghanistan and is in close vicinity of the Jalalabad Airport.

Locals have reported loud explosions and NATO helicopters firing from overhead. AFP quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying 14 suicide bombers were involved in the attack. They entered the airport. Some of them have blown themselves up. Some of them are still fighting, the spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reportedly told AFP.

Meanwhile, reports from Kunduz provice stated that at least eight people were killed by a bomb on a motorbike. An attack on a crowded market in Emam Sehab district left 18 civilians injured.

The Afghan government, in recent months, maintained that the Afghan forces will take up security responsibility of all Afghan provinces by the end of 2014. But recent months have witnessed an increased Taliban activity in the region and several attacks on the armed forces. The upcoming NATO summit scheduled on November 19 and 20 in Lisbon is expected to discuss the current state of affairs and transition of security to the Afghan forces.

Afghanistan Afghanistan