Twin suicide attack on NATO Afghan base kills 12

Ten civilians and two police were killed and dozens more were wounded today in a Taliban twin suicide attack targeting a US-run military base in central Afghanistan, officials said.

The first bombing was carried out by a militant on foot, followed by a huge blast from a truck bomb that destroyed much of a local bazaar near the military outpost in Wardak province's Sayedabad district, police said.

"The number of wounded is so high that it can hardly be counted. Lots of people have been wounded and much of the Sayedabad bazaar has been destroyed," Wardak police spokesman Abdul Wali told AFP.

Ghulam Farouq Mukhlis, the provincial public health director, told AFP that at least 43 civilians were admitted to local hospitals. Ten people were evacuated to the capital Kabul for "serious injuries", Mukhlis added.

A Western military official close to the NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) who spoke anonymously told AFP that two ISAF soldiers were wounded in the blasts.

"There were no ISAF fatalities," an ISAF spokesman told AFP separately, confirming the twin blast.

Shahidullah Shahid a spokesperson for the provincial administration confirmed the attack, describing the truck-bombing as "massive".

"A suicide bomber on foot detonated near the gate of the base in Sayedabad, Wardak province, opening the way for a truck suicide bombing that followed him," Shahid told AFP.