Taliban claims responsibility for attack on base

A suicide bomber wearing an Afghan security forces uniform blew himself up Saturday at the entrance to a military base in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least four Afghan soldiers, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militants have conducted an increasing number of attacks in the east and north since many of them were routed from their strongholds in the south by an influx of tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO forces last year.

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said a man on foot detonated his vest packed with explosives about 7:30 a.m. local time at the entrance to the base west of Jalalabad, which is shared by Afghan and coalition forces.

"The attacker had the Afghan security force uniform on and that gave him the opportunity to reach the entrance to the base and carry out the attack," Azimi said.

NATO, for its part, has not yet disclosed any information about the attack in Qarghayi district of Laghman province.

Baz Mohammad Sherzad, the director for health in nearby Nangarhar province, said the bodies of the four Afghan soldiers were brought to a hospital in Jalalabad. He said others were wounded in the blast.

In an e-mail to reporters, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the bomber was from Day Kundi province in central Afghanistan.

"A month ago, he joined with the Afghan army and his aim was to carry out the suicide attack," Mujahid said. "Today, when there was a meeting going on between Afghan and foreign soldiers, he used the opportunity to carry out the attack."

He said 12 foreign troops and 14 Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack. The Taliban often exaggerates casualties caused by their attacks.