A suicide car bomber struck an army base in Afghanistan on Sunday killing at least 30 security personnel, officials said, in one of the bloodiest attacks targeting government forces in recent months.
The attack occurred on the outskirts of Ghazni city, capital of the eastern province of Ghazni, which has seen regular fighting between the Taliban and government forces.
It came as the government and Taliban are engaged in peace talks to end the war in the impoverished country that has killed tens of thousands of people in nearly two decades.
“Thirty bodies and 24 wounded people have been brought to hospital. All of them are security personnel,” Baz Mohammad Hemat, director of Ghazni hospital, told AFP.
Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a suicide bomber had detonated a vehicle full of explosives.
“The bomber drove a Humvee vehicle right inside the base and detonated it,” Ghazni governor spokesman Wahidullah Jumazada told AFP.
The base is located on a vast swathe of arid land surrounded by mountains.
Video footage showed military ambulances taking the dead and wounded to hospitals and cranes deployed to remove debris from the site of the attack in the base.
The ministry of defense gave a toll of 10 security personnel killed and seven wounded. The ministry is known to downplay tolls in attacks against its forces.
No group has so far claimed responsibility.
Source: AFP
