Dawlat Khan Zadran, police chief of southeastern Paktika province, said the bomber had driven the small truck inside the base in the remote Bermel district near the border with Pakistan.

He said another four people were wounded.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said by telephone from an undisclosed location the truck had been able to enter the base after fighters infiltrated the Afghan border police.

Mujahid claimed the truck was carrying thousands of kilograms of explosives and that the bomber had inflicted heavy casualties among Afghan and foreign troops.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said no foreign troops were hurt.

In other incidents, a roadside bomb killed three civilians in southern Marjah and another killed two children in the north on Tuesday, government and security officials said. – REUTERS.