Taliban claim deadly Afghan bombing

The attack came hours after the Taliban vowed to keep fighting foreign troops until all of them leave the country [AFP]

At least five Afghan civilians have been killed and 77 NATO personnel wounded in a truck bomb attack on a  base in eastern Afghanistan, according to the military coalition.

The injured were evacuated to medical facilities or were treated at the scene of the blast in Wardak province late on Saturday, NATO said in a statement.

US forces are responsible for security in Wardak, according to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) website.

The attack, which came on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated an explosive device inside a truck carrying firewood, NATO added.

No coalition forces were killed in the attack on the combat outpost, according to the statement.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the Reuters news agency reported.

The attack came hours after the group vowed to keep fighting US forces in Afghanistan until all foreign troops have left the country and stressed that their group had no role in the 9/11 attacks.

In a statement emailed to media, the Taliban accused the United States of using the attacks as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and said the international community was responsible for killing thousands of Afghans during the invasion and ensuing occupation.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, in pursuit of Osama bin Laden, the late al-Qaeda leader who masterminded the US attacks, who had found refuge under the Taliban.

Bin Laden at the time was living in Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda had training camps from which it planned attacks against the US and other countries.