TALIBAN LAUNCHES ATTACK NEAR US BASE

Kabul, 27 Shawwal 1434/2 September 2013 (MINA) – Taliban fighters wearing special forces’ uniforms have attacked a car park for NATO vehicles near a US military base in an Afghan province bordering Pakistan.

More than 30 vehicles stationed at the base before heading to Pakistan were torched or damaged as a result of early Monday’s attack, which was followed by a gun battle between the fighters and security forces, at the Torkham border crossing in Nangarhar.

The Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said six soldiers were killed and 10 military vehicles destroyed.

In an emailed statement to media offices, Zabiullah Mujahid, Afghan Taliban spokesman, said the group was behind the attack, and claimed that its fighters had destroyed several tanks in the process. Al Jazeera could not independently confirm the claim, quoted by Mi’raj News Agency Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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Meanwhile, NATO-led ISAF forces said they had killed three attackers while none of its personnel were killed.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for Nangarhar’s governor, said several suicide bombers staged the attack.

The Afghan police shut part of a highway that forms an important route for NATO supply lorries travelling between Jalalabad, Nangarhar’s capital, and Torkham, a district adjoining Pakistan.

The attack comes exactly a week after Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s visit to Pakistan, where he discussed the peace process including the release of jailed high-level Afghan Taliban members.

Taliban fighters on both sides of the Afghan border have frequently targeted the supply line, leading NATO to shift much of its supply delivery towards routes from Central Asian states instead of through Pakistan.