Afghanistan suicide bomb kills 25

The bomber exploded the device on Sunday as many civilian vehicles were waiting to pass the checkpoint on a main road near the US base Camp Chapman in eastern Afghanistan.

The camp is less than four kilometers (2.4 miles) from the city of Khost, which is near the Pakistani border.

It was not clear if the bomber had been trying to reach the base.

"The explosion was so loud and strong that almost all of the city of Khost was shaken by the blast," provincial police chief General Faizullah Ghyrat said.

"We counted 18 dead and six wounded," said a doctor at a hospital in Khost city on Sunday. Ghyrat put the toll at 25 dead and 16 wounded, adding that they were all civilians.

Many of the victims were reported to be women and children who were in the vehicles waiting for their turn to pass the checkpoint.

All of the victims were Afghan citizens and the blast took place as people were breaking their Ramadan fast.

No group has claimed responsibility for attack but it is similar to previous attacks carried out by the Taliban [photo above shows the aftermath of attack on Sunday in Kundus, northern Afghanistan].

The NATO mission in Afghanistan said it was "aware" of the blast and added that "no US or coalition personnel were injured as a result of the attack."

Camp Chapman was named for the first US soldier killed in combat in Afghanistan. Seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed there in late 2009 by an al Qaeda operative who the US considered had been "de-radicalised."

jm/jr (AP, AFP, Reuters)