Eight soldiers die in Afghanistan suicide attack

A SUICIDE attacker detonated a minibus packed with explosives near the gates of a military base in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing six NATO troops and two Afghan soldiers, officials said.

Afghan officials said the attack took place in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, where the US poured in troops this summer as part of a surge of forces to try to oust the Taliban from its southern strongholds.

General Abdul Hamid, the Afghan army chief for the province, said the attacker drove a minibus into the entrance of the base yesterday morning just as vehicles were preparing to move out on a patrol.