Suicide attack on former CIA base claims 33 lives in Khost

12 children among the dead as talks fail to stop attacks

KABUL // The death toll from a suicide attack at a military base in eastern Afghanistan rose to 33 yesterday, as casualties from the Taliban’s insurgency continue to mount despite the start of peace talks. The Sunday 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 was not clear whether the bomber was trying to get onto the base or what led to his attack, Mr Khan said.

Mubarez Zadran, a spokesman for the provincial governor and a senior police official confirmed the death toll, which included 27 civilians and six Afghan security personnel.

“Twelve children and three women are among the dead,” said Mr Zadran. The US military said none of its personnel were hurt but declined to give details of the size of the contingent at the base. A US defence official said Chapman was an Afghan base with some American special operations forces and Afghan troops stationed there. The base was once used by the CIA to help oversee strikes against militants. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but the Taliban have often targeted Afghan and foreign troops.

At least 12 civilians were also killed in twin roadside bomb blasts over the weekend, officials said, blaming the attacks on the Taliban. The insurgents launched a countrywide offensive in late April, stepping up attacks on government and foreign targets despite the peace talks.

The UN mission in the country has said that almost 1,000 civilians were killed during the first four months of this year, a sharp jump from the same period last year. In 2009, Camp Chapman was the target of a spectacular suicide attack claimed by Al Qaeda.

Seven CIA American officials were killed in what was the deadliest assault on the US agency since 1983, when eight officers died in an attack on a military base in Beirut.

The next year, 24 Taliban militants – some wearing US uniforms – were killed when they tried to storm Camp Chapman and another nearby US base, Camp Salerno.

The base was hit again in 2012, this time a suicide car bomber killing three Afghans in a blast powerful enough to rattle windows 4 kilometres away. Camp Chapman is located fewer than 4km from the city of Khost, which is near the Pakistani border and has been the target of suicide attackers in recent years.

The Taliban and a multitude of armed militants groups hold sway in the volatile region. Nato ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December, leaving local forces to battle the Taliban alone but a residual force remains for training purposes and counter- terrorism operations.

27 civilians and six security personnel were killed