Also Saturday, the NATO command announced another of its soldiers was killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan. The soldier's nationality was not released, but U.S. officials said the victim was not American.
At least three suicide bombers blew themselves up during the attack in Khost, which began in the early afternoon and was ongoing, Defense Minister spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi said. Azimi said Afghan forces had surrounded the attackers and were firing on them.
Details of the attack were sketchy because reporters were unable to move safely through the city. Residents contacted by telephone said the sounds of battle were continuing hours after the attacks started.
Provincial council member Tajaly Khan Saber told The Associated Press that it was impossible to determine casualties because residents could not move about in the streets of the city, site of a major U.S. military base, about 95 miles (150 kilometers) south of Kabul. It was not clear if U.S. troops were involved in the fighting Saturday.
Ramazan Bashardost, a member of parliament and one of about 40 presidential candidates, was in Khost campaigning for the Aug. 20 ballot but did not appear to be a target of the attack. He told the AP by phone that he was safe. Bashardost said shops in the city were closed and streets were full of Afghan soldiers.
Khost is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the Pakistani border and has long been a flash point because of smuggling across the frontier.
Last May, 11 Taliban suicide bombers struck government buildings in Khost, killing 20 people and wounding three Americans.
