Taliban Suicide Bombers Attack Afghan Army Base

ISLAMABAD —

A suicide car bombing at a military base in southern Afghanistan Wednesday killed at least two soldiers and wounded 15 others.

The attack happened in Lashkargah, capital of restive Helmand province, and targeted a contingent of Afghan National Army soldiers who were about to leave the base for a counter-Taliban operation in a nearby district.

A provincial government spokesman, Omar Zwak, told VOA two suicide bombers were on board an explosive-packed car but security forces intercepted them before they could enter the ANA base, prompting them to detonate the explosives.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, claimed its suicide bombers assaulted the base, killing a large number of Afghan soldiers. The insurgent group often issues inflated casualty tolls for such attacks.

Wednesday’s attack is the third suicide bombing in Helmand in recent days, killing dozens of people. The largest Afghan province is known for being one of the world’s largest poppy producing regions.

Taliban insurgents control or influence a majority of the 14 districts in Helmand, which borders Pakistan.