23 killed in multiple attacks in Afghanistan

KABUL — At least 23 people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in multiple suicide bombings and attacks in Afghanistan yesterday, officials said, the latest in a series of assaults in the war-torn country.

In the biggest attack, Taliban militants stormed an army base in the western province of Farah overnight, killing at least 18 soldiers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Deputy provincial governorYounus Rasooli said the authorities had sent a factfinding delegation to Bala Buluk to investigate the assault.

In another attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the diplomatic area of Kabul during the morning rush hour, killing at least three people and wounding five others, deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP.

"At around 8:30 a.m. a suicide bomber on foot, well-dressed with a necktie on, was identified at a checkpoint. He blew up his explosives, killing three and wounding five others," he said, updating an earlier toll.

A security source who requested not to be named said the explosion happened near a compound belonging to the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan intelligence agency. The NDS compound is located near the NATO headquarters and the US Embassy.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack in Kabul, which in recent months has become one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Security forces inspect the site of a suicide bombing in the diplomatic area of capital Kabul, Afghanistan, near NATO headquarters and not far from the US Embassy.