KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide car bomber attacked a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, collapsing a guard post with American soldiers
inside, an Afghan official said. Three NATO soldiers were wounded, a U.S. military official said.
Two Afghan policemen were wounded in the attack, said Lutfullah Babakarheil, a district chief.
The attacker in the eastern Khost province rammed the explosives-laden car into the gates of the U.S. military base in Yaqoubi district, said
Babakarheil.
"There are American soldiers inside the collapsed guard room, but we do not know whether any are wounded or killed," he said.
Sgt. 1st Class Brian Lamar, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said three soldiers serving under a separate command _ NATO's
International Security Assistance Force _ were wounded in the explosion and evacuated for medical care.
Lamar would not disclose the soldiers' nationalities because of strict rules set by NATO. However, the majority of international forces in Khost
province are American.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ Clashes and raids in southern Afghanistan killed or wounded more than 20 Taliban fighters, while a Canadian soldier died
in a roadside blast, military officials said.
In the southern Helmand province, U.S.-led coalition troops targeted a Taliban commander in Garmser district on Sunday, the coalition said.
"Several insurgents were killed when they fired on coalition forces," who detained four men with suspected links to the militants, the
coalition said in a statement late Sunday.
Also Sunday, Afghan and foreign troops clashed with militants in Helmand's Sangin district, resulting in 20 casualties, according to a Defense
Ministry statement that did not provide a breakdown of the number of dead and wounded militants.
Four other suspected militants were detained by coalition troops in the Qalat district of Zabul province. The men were accused of involvement in
attacks along the main highway connecting Kabul with the country's south, the coalition said.
Separately, a Canadian soldier was killed by a roadside bomb west of Kandahar city on Sunday, said Brig. Gen. Guy Laroche, the commander of Canadian
Forces in Afghanistan.
Since 2002, 79 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan, including five soldiers this year. Most have been killed by
roadside bombs.
Canada has deployed about 2,500 troops to fight the Taliban in the volatile south, but has threatened to withdraw if other NATO countries fail to
provide 1,000 additional troops for Kandahar province, one of the centers of the Taliban-led insurgency.
Afghanistan's intelligence chief, meanwhile, rejected an assessment by his U.S. counterpart that 10 percent of the country is under Taliban
control, calling the figures "completely baseless."
Michael McConnell, the U.S. National Intelligence Director, told a Senate committee last week in Washington that Afghanistan's central
government controls just 30 percent of the country, the Taliban controls about 10 percent, and local tribes control the rest.
Afghan and Western officials have disputed the figures.
"All the percentages given are completely baseless for us," Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh told a news conference Monday in
Kabul.
Saleh said only eight of Afghanistan's 364 districts _ comprising 2 percent of the Afghan population or 5 percent of its territory _ are not
government controlled.
Saleh also took issue with McConnell's assertion that the 60 percent of the country controlled by tribal leaders is not under direct government
control.
"We are a very distinct country, in our culture, in our way of governance, in our history," Saleh said. "While in America, an
administration fully backed by tribal chiefs or dominated by tribal chiefs may be seen as liability ... here we see it as a very strong
asset."
Last year was the deadliest in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. More than 6,500 people _ mostly militants _ were killed in violence
linked to the insurgency, according to an Associated Press count.