Car Bomb Detonates Near US Military Base In Backdrop Of Jim Mattis Visit

Khost: Suspected Taliban terrorists on Monday attacked a US-operated base in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost, officials said, but gave few immediate details of an assault that coincided with a visit to Kabul by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

The attackers had detonated a car bomb at an entrance to Camp Chapman, a secretive facility manned by US forces and private military contractors, said Mubarez Mohammad Zadran, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

But he had little immediate information on any damage or casualties.

"I am aware of a car bomb attack at one of the gates in the US base, but we are not allowed there to get more details," the spokesman said.

A spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan, Capt. William Salvin, confirmed the car bomb attack. He said there appeared to be a number of Afghan casualties but none among US or coalition personnel at the base.

The attack came just three days after more than 140 Afghan soldiers were killed in an attack on their base by Taliban fighters disguised in military uniforms.

(Reporting by Ahmad Shah and Josh Smith, Writing by James Mackenzie, Editing by Clarence Fernandez)