Suicide attacks hit Nato base in Afghanistan

At least nine civilians and four police officers have been killed in a suicide attack at a Nato military base in Wardak province in central Afghanistan, according to officials.

"A suicide bomber on foot detonated near the gate of the base in Sayedabad, Wardak province, opening the way for a truck suicide bombing that followed him," Shahiddullah Shahid, provincial government spokesman, said on Saturday.

Witnesses at the scene said a small bazaar near the base had been "totally destroyed" by the huge explosion.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack which happened at dawn on Saturday.

The first attack was carried out by a militant on foot; then an explosives-laden lorry was detonated.

There are fears of a surge in violence when foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014.

The first suicide bomber targeted the local governor's office in the district of Saidabad, officials say.

A number of shops and houses were destroyed in the truck bomb explosion that followed.

At least 47 people were wounded.

A spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed there were no casualties from his organisation, which has an estimated 130,000 troops in Afghanistan.

According to the UN 1,145 civilians have been killed and 1,954 wounded in the Afghan war within just the first six months of this year.

They have blamed 80 per cent of the deaths on fighters opposed to the government allied to the West.