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KABUL — A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 10 people and wounding 14 others, an Afghan official said.
The bomber approached a group of Afghan men who were waiting outside the base in the city of Khost, in Khost province, before triggering an explosive strapped to his chest, said Jamal Arsalah, the province's governor.
Maj. Matt Hackathorn, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed the blast, but said that there were no U.S. military casualties known so far.
Mr. Jamal said the men were daily workers, lining up to get into the base at the time of the blast.
Suicide attacks have increased as Taliban militants intensify their insurgency against Afghan government forces and foreign troops. According to U.S. military figures, there were 139 suicide attacks during 2006, up from 27 in 2005.
In 2006, Taliban carried out a record number of attacks — suicide and otherwise — and some 4,000 people died in the insurgency-related violence, according to a tally by The Associated Press based on reports from Afghan, NATO and coalition officials.
Khost, where Tuesday's attack was carried out, is a former al-Qaeda stronghold on the mountainous Pakistani border that has been a focus of militant activity.
Afghan and Western officials say insurgents use the tribal areas of neighbouring Pakistan as sanctuaries from where they organize and launch operations in Afghanistan.
Pakistan argues that only remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda remain on its side of the border and complain that it gets too little recognition for deploying thousands of troops to the region.
On Monday, a suicide car bomber killed four Pakistani soldiers in North Waziristan, across the frontier from Khost.
Senior U.S. officials have warned that fighting in Afghanistan is likely to surge again this spring, as warmer weather clears snow from mountain passes and militants try to weaken the grip of President Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government.
