Suicide attack on American military base

A suicide bomber yesterday killed an Afghan civilian and wounded two guards at a US base in Afghanistan where seven CIA agents were killed last year by an Al-Qaeda double agent.

The Afghan Taliban claimed the attack, which came on the same day that Pakistan's Taliban leader, who claimed involvement in last year's attack, appeared in two purported new videos threatening US and Nato targets.

Police said the bomber detonated a car full of explosives outside Forward Operating Base Chapman in the eastern province of Khost, a day after a roadside bomb left eight civilians dead in neighbouring Paktia.

The Khost bomber struck four months after seven CIA agents were killed in a suicide attack on the base, located near the border with Pakistan's tribal belt - a known refuge of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

"One civilian was killed and two Afghans working with US forces were injured," Khost police chief Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai said.

The bomber detonated the explosives near a water-tanker that was entering the facility, local government spokesman Mubariz Zadran said.