Afghanistan | Car bombing kills at least 26 civilians near former CIA base

Afghan security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack that targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul

A suicide car bombing near a military base in eastern Afghanistan that once hosted CIA employees killed at least 26 people Sunday, local officials said, the latest insurgent attack after foreign forces ended their combat mission there.
The bombing hit a checkpoint manned by members of the Khost Provincial Force, an Afghan unit that guards Camp Chapman, said Youqib Khan, the deputy police chief in Khost province. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the bomber was trying to get onto the base or what led to his attack, Khan said. A U.S. defense official said Chapman is an Afghan base with some American special operations forces there.
A local hospital received the bodies of at least 26 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children including eight members of a single family, said Dr. Hedayatullah Hamedi, the province’s health director. He said the blast wounded nine civilians.
“The explosion was so loud and strong that almost all of the city of Khost was shaken by the blast,” provincial police chief Gen. Faizullah Ghyrat said.
A statement issued by the Khost provincial governor’s office offered different casualty numbers, saying that 33 people were killed — 27 civilians, including 12 children, and six members of the Afghan security forces. Another 12 members of the Afghan security forces were injured, according to the statement. The discrepancy in the casualty numbers could not immediately be reconciled.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast in the city of Khost, near Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan. Since U.S. and NATO troops ended their combat mission at the end of last year, local troops have been taking the brunt of attacks by the Taliban and other insurgent groups. Rahim Faiez, Kabul, AP