Eight contractors among dead in attack on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation base in Kabul

August 8 One member of Afghanistan’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation force and two insurgents were killed in an overnight battle at a base used by special forces in Kabul, a U.S. official said on Saturday.

The force of the explosion just after midnight created an enormous crater in the road, around 10m deep, and destroyed the boundary wall of the base, although no military casualties were reported.

An worldwide soldier has been killed in a militant attack against a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation base in Kabul, the military alliance in Afghanistan says.

The strike on Camp Integrity came barely 24-hours after multiple bombings rocked the Afghan capital on Friday.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack on the police academy in Kabul.

Such a complex and coordinated set of attacks suggests a message from the Taliban at an especially delicate time following last week’s revelation of Mullah Mohammad Omar’s death and the subsequent leadership dispute.

On Friday evening, a suicide attacker dressed in police uniform blew himself up at the entrance of Kabul Police Academy, killing at least 20 Afghan cadets who were returning after their two-day weekend.

The Taliban are in the midst of a leadership dispute following last week’s appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mansour as new leader.

A wave of terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital, most aimed at government and foreign military sites, left 35 Afghans dead, hundreds more wounded and the government reeling from a brazen challenge by new Taliban insurgent leaders. Mullah Mansour was named the new head of the group, shortly after the death of former chief Mullah Omar became public.

“The demise of Mullah Omar divided the movement and affected the morale of their ground fighters”.