25 killed in attacks, suicide bombings in Afghanistan

KABUL: At least 25 people, mostly soldiers, were killed and more than a dozen wounded in a series of attacks and suicide bombings in Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, the latest assaults on the war-torn country´s beleaguered security forces.

In the biggest attack, the Taliban militants stormed an army base in the western province of Farah overnight, killing at least 20 soldiers. "Last night a big group of militants attacked an army base in Bala Buluk district of Farah. Unfortunately, we lost 20 soldiers, two soldiers were wounded. We have sent more reinforcements to the area," defence ministry spokesman Daulat Wazir said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Deputy provincial governor Younus Rasooli said the authorities had sent a fact-finding delegation to Bala Buluk to investigate the assault.

In another attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the diplomatic area of Kabul during the morning rush hour, killing at least three people and wounding five others, deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.

"At around 8:30 am, a suicide bomber on foot, well-dressed with a necktie on, was identified at a checkpoint. He blew up his explosives, killing three and wounding five others," he said, updating an earlier toll. A security source who requested not to be named said the explosion happened near a compound belonging to the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan intelligence agency.

The NDS compound is located near the Nato headquarters and the US embassy. "I was driving nearby when I heard a big explosion, the windows of my car were smashed. I saw several wounded people on the street near me," a witness told Tolonews TV, adding that security forces had since swarmed the area, closing off the main road leading to the attack site.

The Islamic State group, which is trying to make inroads in Afghanistan, claimed the responsibility for the Kabul attack.

In two other attacks on Saturday in volatile southern Helmand province, suicide car bombs killed at least two soldiers and wounded more than a dozen others, officials said.

In the first incident, militants used a Humvee to attack an army base in Nad Ali district but the vehicle was destroyed when soldiers identified it and hit it with a rocket propelled grenade, provincial spokesman Omar Zawak said. "Unfortunately, two soldiers were killed in the attack and seven wounded," he said.

The Nad Ali attack was followed by a second suicide car bombing in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah that killed two persons wounded seven people.

The attack was against an NDS compound and near a police headquarters in the city, Helmand police spokesman Salaam Afghan said. The Taliban claimed both attacks in Helmand.