Taliban claims responsibility for airport blast, poisoning in Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - A suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives Monday, February 27 at the front gate of a military airfield in eastern Afghanistan, an attack that follows a week of deadly violence over the burning of Korans at an American base that has strained U.S.-Afghan military relations, CNN reported.

At least nine people were killed and 12 wounded in the early morning explosion near the front gate of the airport in Jalalabad. There were no NATO casualties.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was in retaliation for the burning of Korans at a U.S. base last week.

The Taliban also claimed Monday to be behind the poisoning of food at a dining facility at Forward Operating Base Torkham, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It too was a retaliatory attack, the group said.

ISAF confirmed that food at the base appeared to have been contaminated over the weekend, though it was unclear if it was deliberate.

The Taliban has frequently exaggerated its claims or claimed responsibility for attacks that later turned out to be the work of another group.

Even so, Monday's bombing and news of the contaminated food come on the heels of a week of violent protests that has left at least 39 people dead, including four American soldiers, and hundreds more wounded.