Bomb hits near NATO base in Afghanistan: official

A car bomb exploded early today outside the NATO base in eastern Afghanistan where seven CIA agents were killed last year, a local official said.

A car bomb exploded early Monday outside the NATO base in eastern Afghanistan where seven CIA agents were killed last year, a local official said.

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One Afghan was wounded in the suicide attack, which targeted the base in the eastern province of Khost near the border with Pakistan's tribal belt, a known refuge of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

"There was a suicide car bomb near a NATO facility in Khost city. So far at this stage, we only know that one local person has been injured," said local government spokesman Mubariz Zadran.

"The bomber detonated near a water-tanker that was entering the base."

Seven CIA agents were killed in a suicide attack on December 30, when a Jordanian double agent who had been brought to Forward Operating Base Chapman after promising to share intelligence on Al-Qaeda blew himself up.

That attack was one of the deadliest blows ever against the CIA, which said a Taliban bomber managed to penetrate the defences of the forward base, detonating an explosives belt in a room described as a gym.