Afghan, Pakistani soldiers killed in suicide attacks by Taliban, splinter group


A suicide car bomb detonated near an army base in the eastern Afghan province of Khost on Friday, killing one soldier, whereas three Pakistani soldiers were killed in suicide attack in the country's volatile northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan.

The blast, 50 meters (yards) from the base, was heard several miles away and damaged several shops, homes and a school, Akbar Zadran, the chief of Sabari district, told Reuters.

Four gunmen attacked the base but were killed after an hour-long gun battle, Zadran said.

Fazal Khuda, spokesman for the army's 203rd Thunder Corps, told Anadolu Agency seven other soldiers were wounded and two attackers shot dead in the assault.

He added that fighting was ongoing at the base in Sabari district, Khost province, which lies on the Pakistan border.

Taliban spokesman Zabehullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack and said "scores" of soldiers had been killed. The extremist movement often exaggerates casualties caused by its operations.

The attack follows an assault on a military air base in Khost province last week, and comes just ahead of the normal start of the spring fighting season, when Taliban insurgents and the Afghan army step up operations.

The Afghan government controls less than 60 percent of the country after territorial gains by the insurgents since NATO-led forces ended their combat operations at the end of 2014.

U.S. and Afghan officials have warned about increased fighting this year as the Taliban look to widen their influence.

The Taliban are seeking to expel foreign troops, defeat the U.S.-backed government and re-impose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

The head of U.S. Central Command, General Joseph Votel, this month asked for more American troops to join the roughly 8,400 already stationed in Afghanistan to break the stalemate.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Defense Ministry said Friday that up to 55 militants had been killed over the previous 24 hours.

Attacks in Pakistan's northwestern border regions kill three soldiers

A pair of suicide bombers attacked a Pakistani training facility belonging to the country's frontier troops early on Friday, killing an officer, while an overnight cross-border attack in the Khyber tribal region killed two troops, officials said.

According to Liaquat Ali Khan, the commandant of the Frontier Constabulary, the attackers sneaked into the training facility in northwestern Pakistan to try to "cause maximum casualties."

Over 70 recruits were staying at the facility, located near the town of Charsadda. Khan said the guards quickly responded and a shootout with the attackers set off their explosives' vests. One of the guards died in the explosion while two officers were wounded, he added.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Hours earlier, in the Khyber tribal region, the cross-border attack late Thursday left two Pakistani soldiers and six suspected militants dead, a military statement said.

Asad Mansoor, a spokesman for the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar breakaway faction of Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the group's fighters targeted the army post and warning of more such attacks.

Later Friday, the military said it had launched airstrikes in the Khyber region the previous night after receiving intelligence about the presence of a local militant leader, Mangal Bagh. Several suspects were killed, it added, providing no further details. It did not elaborate on the fate of Bagh, who has escaped such airstrikes in recent years.

Pakistani militant have carried out numerous attacks in the country over the last decade, killing thousands of people, including police and paramilitary forces.

The country's boundary with neighboring Afghanistan is especially volatile and Islamabad claims many of the attacks in Pakistan are orchestrated from militant safe havens next door. After a string of suicide attacks killed more than 125 people in Pakistan last month, Islamabad closed the Pakistan-Afghan border indefinitely.