8 US men perish in Afghan suicide attack

KABUL: At least 8 American civilian workers were killed on Wednesday in a suicide bomb attack on a US military base, officials said. Pentagon spokeswoman Lt Col Almarah Belk said the eight died when an attacker detonated a vest packed with explosives on Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province -- a key Taliban stronghold. "Eight Americans have been killed in an attack on RC-East," a US embassy official said, referring to the military region of eastern Afghanistan. "No US and no ISAF military personnel were killed or injured" in the incident, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) added. Suicide attacks are a hallmark of the Taliban, who are waging a major insurgency to topple the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The number of foreign civilians under government contracts in Afghanistan is increasing, with the strategy to defeat the Taliban placing more emphasis on development and aid. The US said last month it had doubled the number of civilian experts working in Afghanistan and was "on track" to meet its goal of nearly 1,000 by the New Year. Many are to work in provincial military bases alongside military reconstruction teams. The attack came just over two months after Taliban suicide gunmen stormed a Kabul hostel in a dawn attack and killed five UN workers.