Suicide Bomber Wounds At Least 80 In Afghanistan

A joint Afghan U.S base in eastern Afghanistan was rocked by a suicide bomber on Wednesday who blew up a vehicle filled with explosives wounding at least 80 including 45 local soldiers. The Taliban took responsibility for the car bomb attack, saying they also dispatched a group of fighters in suicide vests who managed to enter the base. Relatives gathered at a local hospital soon after the attack as the wounded were being treated. Violence has been increasing across the country as the deadline of the end of 2014 looms for most foreign combat troops to leave Afghanistan, leaving the 350,000 strong Afghan security forces in control. NATO has said that 243 Afghan soldiers and 292 policemen were killed or wounded in an average month this year. This has raised concerns about the ability to tackle insurgents.