The killed soldiers were recruits to Afghanistan's fledgling national army

KABUL, July 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a new demonstration that the security situation in Afghanistan is far from being under control, eight Afghan soldiers were killed in a mine explosion near Khost, as attackers fired several rockets at a U.S.-dominated base in southeastern Afghanistan.

"Eight people were killed and one seriously wounded when their vehicle drove over an anti-tank mine, 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the city of Khost," commander Khyal Baz Khan told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Khan, commander of the 25th army Division in Khost, said the soldiers were going to their checkpoint on the border with Pakistan.

The mine was planted on the road, he said, blaming the blast on the "enemies" of Afghanistan.

"They could be remnants of Taliban or al-Qaeda, they are the enemies of Afghanistan" he charged, speaking from Khost by satellite telephone.

At the scene of the attack, witnesses told Reuters they saw a burned-out vehicle and three bodies charred beyond recognition.

The soldiers were recruits to Afghanistan's fledgling national army and served along the border with Pakistan.

The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported that the blast was apparently set off by a remote-controlled device.

Quoting eyewitnesses, the Pakistan-based news service said the vehicle was carrying Afghan soldiers who belonged to a unit that helps U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.

The dead included a local Afghan commander, it said.

About 100 Afghan government troops and civilians have been killed or wounded in bomb blasts and rocket strikes across southern Afghanistan since the beginning of the year.

Blame is heaped on remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime, toppled some 19 months ago in a military campaign by U.S.-led forces.

The new attack came few days after a police chief in the southern Ghorak district, and four of his bodyguards were killed by unknown gunmen as they traveled on a road 90 kilometers (56 miles) northwest of the Kandahar.

Afghan officials argue Taliban fighters and their al Qaeda allies are plotting their Afghan raids from the safety of neighboring Pakistan.

Islamabad countered it was doing its best to stop militants crossing back and forth to Afghanistan.

U.S. Base Attacked

In another development, unknown attackers fired several rockets at a U.S.-dominated base in the southeastern Afghanistan but there were no casualties, a U.S. military spokesman said on Friday.

"Three to four rockets were fired at border checkpoint number four in the vicinity of the firebase at Khost last night (Thursday)," Colonel Rodney Davis told reporters at Bagram air base, north of Kabul.

None of the rockets caused any casualties or damage, he said without providing further details.

Davis was unable to say who fired the rockets but similar attacks have been blamed on Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Punishment

Punishing Afghan traders, the U.S. forces banned a weekly flea market in Bagram air base to pressure residents identify those behind a rocket attack on the base last week.

"The shopkeepers and traders have been prevented from setting up the Friday bazaar because they are not telling us who fired the rocket," an American military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A suspected rocket was fired early last week at the perimeter of the Bagram Air Base, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the capital Kabul, but caused no casualties. An investigation is under way into the attack, according to the U.S. military.

Dozens of traders and shopkeepers from surrounding villages sell their goods at the makeshift weekly market inside the sprawling Soviet-built facility.

Bagram Air Base is one of the main bases for the 11,500-strong U.S.-led forces.

Afghan forces loyal to the Defense Minister Marshal Qasim Fahim help guard the perimeter.