Monday 30 May 2011 10.27 BST
- Article history
Taliban insurgents, including at least two suicide bombers, have attacked a foreign base in west Afghanistan, witnesses and officials said.
One witness reported seeing the bodies of several troops wearing foreign uniforms and smoke rising near an Italian-run, joint civilian and military provincial reconstruction team base in Herat. Nato and Afghan officials were unable to confirm any casualties among Afghans or foreign troops.
A second witness said insurgents appeared to have entered a seven-storey building near the base on Monday and opened fire on it.
An interior ministry spokesman, Zemari Bashary, said at least two suicide bombers had launched the attack in Herat, a normally peaceful city close to the border with Iran.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said four suicide bombers were involved, although claims involving attacks against foreign and Afghan targets are often exaggerated.
Italian troops form the bulk of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the area but there was no immediate confirmation of casualties. A spokesman in Kabul said the force was aware of reports of the attack and was looking into them.
Television pictures from Herat showed at least two vehicles destroyed by explosions and troops scurrying for cover.
The Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive at the beginning of May and attacks have taken place in cities across Afghanistan in recent weeks. The Afghan government and security forces and foreign military targets have been singled out in increasingly bold assaults.
US commanders had warned that insurgents would attempt to hit back after major gains by the US-led ISAF troops and Afghan forces in the Taliban heartland in the south over the past 12 months.
Violence across Afghanistan last year reached its worst levels since the Taliban were toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001, with record civilian and military casualties.
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