'Several' US troops injured in Afghan base blast:

An explosion rocked a joint Afghan-US combat post in eastern Afghanistan Thursday, injuring "several" US troops, the Pentagon said, but it was not immediately clear if it was an attack.

"An explosion occurred at a joint ANSF/ISAF combat outpost in Paktiya province, eastern Afghanistan this evening," the US military said in a statement."Several ISAF service members from the United States were injured. There were no reported fatalities to ISAF or ANSF personnel," it said.Americans and other international troops have been working closely with Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) as they try and stand up an effective military and police to protect civilians and defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

There are about 110,000 international troops as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) battling the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters.ISAF wants to expand the Afghan army to 134,000 troops in October 2010 and 171,600 by October 2011, while the police numbers would expand from some 80,000 now, to 109,000 in October, and 134,000 the following October.Last month, a suicide bomber killed eight people including seven CIA agents at a forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province. -AFP