Militants assault NATO base in eastern Afghanistan

[November 13, 2010]  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A group of would-be suicide bombers tried to storm a major NATO base in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday but were repelled before they could enter, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack -- their second assault on the NATO base and an adjoining airport outside Jalalabad city in six months.

Meanwhile, a bomb attack in the north of the country killed 10 people.

The militants attacked the Afghan army checkpoint outside the Jalalabad base shortly after dawn, sparking a gunbattle that lasted at least two hours and involved NATO helicopters firing from overhead, said Sgt. Abdullah Hamdard, a national army commander at the site.

A spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial government, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, confirmed the attack and said eight assailants were killed -- including two who were wearing explosives vests.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said there were 14 attackers and that 11 of them were killed, though the insurgent group typically gives inflated numbers.

NATO forces said in a statement that the base received fire but initial reports indicated no foreign or Afghan forces were killed.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw three dead bodies laid out, all in Afghan army uniforms, which militants often wear as a disguise. An AK-47 assault rifle, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a grenade were laid out nearby.

Abdulzai said the area was secure by late morning and that they had killed all the attackers.

In June, militants assaulted the NATO base with a car bomb, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons but did not breach its defenses. Eight militants were killed in that attack.

The base is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Kabul on the main road between the Afghan capital and the Pakistan border.

The Taliban have launched a number high-profile attacks against major NATO bases this year, including the main U.S. base at Bagram Air Field and the main southern base outside Kandahar city. Though the insurgents have done little damage with these assaults, they show the ability of the Taliban to strike at the core of the NATO mission and the freedom of movement the group has across the country despite an infusion of thousands more international forces.

In northern Kunduz province Saturday, a bomb hidden in a motorbike exploded on a busy street in Imam Sahib district, killing 10 people, including three children, the Interior Ministry and police said.

The bomb was detonated just as a vehicle belonging to a police official drove past. The official -- Commander Mohammad Manan -- and one of his bodyguards were among those killed, said Abdul Qayum Ebrahimi, the district police chief.

Ebrahimi said they believed the bombers had targeted Manan.

In Kabul, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner met with the Afghan president. The meeting comes ahead of a summit in Lisbon later this month where the main topic of discussion will be shifting authority for security to Afghan forces.

Kouchner will also visit French forces in Afghanistan.

France has about 3,750 troops in the country.

[Associated Press; By RAHIM FAIEZ]

Associated Press photographer Rahmat Gul contributed to this report from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.