Afghanistan: Taliban attack two Nato bases

The assaults on the sprawling Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province
and nearby Camp Chapman, took place at 3am local time.

Camp Chapman was the scene of a major attack in December, when a suicide
bomber entered the base and killed seven CIA employees.

Major Wazir Pacha of the provincial police headquarters said insurgents used
rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and other heavy
weapons, but had been repelled.

“The area is under control, but we still need to find those hiding,” he said.

Small arms fire could still be heard in the area mid-morning, witnesses said,
while Nato helicopters patrolled overhead.

Police discovered a vehicle laden with ammunition and another packed with
explosives that had become stuck in deep mud. Major Pacha said the second
vehicle was probably intended to be used as a suicide truck bomb.

On Friday, homemade bombs killed three US soldiers in southern and eastern
Afghanistan, bringing the total number of foreign troops killed in
Afghanistan this month to 55.