Suicide Car Bomb Kills 27 Afghan Civilians, Six Troops Near US Base

10 Others Wounded in Attack

No troops were killed or wounded today, but 33 Afghans, including 27 civilians were slain when a suicide car bomb detonated near a US military base outside of the city of Khost. 10 other civilians were reported wounded in the incident.

There was no claim of responsibility, and while officials would generally look to the Taliban for such attacks, the recent US focus on attacking ISIS in Afghanistan mean that either could potentially be looking to carry out such strikes.

The blast took place at a police checkpoint near the base, though the car did not appear to be up to the checkpoint yet, and simply detonated among a line of vehicles waiting at the checkpoint to pass. Afghan officials initially insisted all the slain were civilians, but later said six security forcces were among the slain.

NATO offered little insight on the incident, saying only that they were “aware” of the reports of an blast, and that none of their forces were involved in what happened.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.