Taliban truck explosion kills 23 in Afghanistan [March 28 2011]

KABUL, Afghanistan – A team of suicide bombers shot their way into the compound of a road construction company in eastern Afghanistan and detonated a truck loaded with explosives, killing 23 people and wounding about 60, the Afghan government said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which the Interior Ministry said occurred late Sunday in the Barmal district of Paktika province.

The ministry said three attackers went up to the gate of the Zahir construction company, shot the guard, and then drove a large truck that was full of explosives into the compound where they detonated it. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement Monday that the Taliban were responsible for the suicide attack that targeted a joint Afghan-NATO operating base.

Mokhlis Afghan, spokesman for provincial Governor Mohibullah Samim, said all the dead and wounded were laborers and there were no Afghan or foreign forces at the site. He added that the explosion was so powerful that little remained of the truck. The area is located on the border with Pakistans lawless tribal regions, which serve as safe havens for insurgents that infiltrate into Afghanistan across the rugged and mountainous frontier.

The region has seen an escalation in violence over the past few months. In northeastern Kunar province, Governor Sayed Fazeullah Wahidi said elders in Chapa Dara district were negotiating for the release of about 50 police officers and recruits abducted by the Taliban one day before. The men, who were unarmed, were in four trucks when they were stopped by a group of insurgents.