Taliban launches failed attack against NATO base in Afghanistan, officials say

Aug, 28, 2013: Afghan policemen investigate the site of a suicide attack in the provincial capital city of Laskar-Gah, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, Wednesday. A suicide attack against a coalition convoy and a separate rocket attack against tankers carrying fuel for NATO on Wednesday killed many civilians and wounded tens of people in southern and western Afghanistan, officials said. (AP)

Taliban fighters launched a failed attack against a base in Afghanistan that hosts troops from America and Poland, Afghan and Polish officials say, but managed to wound seven soldiers and at least five civilians.

Maj. Marek Pietrzak, a Polish military spokesman, said Wednesday a group of insurgents tried to storm the base in eastern Ghazni city but were repelled. He added that seven Polish soldiers were wounded and hospitalized in the attack but their lives are not in danger.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack

Deputy Ghazni governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi says the assault began with a truck bomb that failed to breach a perimeter wall. Other insurgents opened fire, but were killed.

Both Pietrzak and Ahmadi say they attack is over.

Earlier, a suicide attack against a coalition convoy and a separate rocket attack against tankers carrying fuel for NATO killed a total of 10 civilians and wounded 25 in southern and western Afghanistan, officials said.

Spokesman Omer Zwak of southern Helmand province said the suicide car bomb attack happened in the provincial capital city of Laskar-Gah and killed four civilians. He added that another 15 were wounded.

Zwak had no details about how the attack was carried out but said there were no immediate reports of casualties among coalition forces. They usually drive in heavily armored vehicles.

Spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhawandai of western Farah province said a rocket fired at a parking lot used by truck drivers carrying fuel for the coalition hit a fully laden vehicle, which immediately caught fire. The ensuing blaze killed six Afghan drivers and wounded another 10.

Zhawandai said the fire destroyed about 35 of the 40 trucks parked in the lot, which is used by drivers to safely spend the night. Drivers rarely travel in Afghanistan between dusk and dawn to avoid insurgent attacks.

The coalition imports all the fuel it uses in the country and it is transported by Afghan civilian contractors.

Insurgents have picked up the pace of their attacks after the international coalition handed over responsibility for security around the country to Afghan forces two months ago.

They have so far unsuccessfully tried to retake territory in their traditional southern and eastern heartlands.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.