The US-led Nato mission said no foreign nationals were killed in the morning raid on the Torkham base in Nangahar province, near the Pakistan border.

 

A local official was quoted as saying that the attack triggered a gun battle and Nato helicopters were flying over the base. 

 

A Taliban spokesman told the BBC that the group was behind the attack.

 

The forward operating base is home to some of the 66,000 US troops serving in Afghanistan along with forces from other countries.

 

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the Nangahar governor, said the Jalalbad-Torkham road - a key route for Nato supply vehicles - was closed after the attack, according to the Associated Press news agency. 

 

There has recently been a spate¹ of attacks across the country, claiming dozens of lives - most of them civilians².

 

The violence is being interpreted by some as an attempt by the Taliban to assert their presence and test the strength of Afghan forces ahead of the planned withdrawal³ of US-led forces at the end of next year, the BBC's Karen Allen in Kabul reports.

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