KABUL — The Taliban is claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing at a base in eastern Afghanistan that killed eight American civilians, the worst loss of life for Americans in the country since October.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that a Taliban bomber wearing a military uniform and a suicide vest entered the base in Khost and blew himself up inside the gym.
A U.S. congressional official told AP that CIA employees are believed to be among the dead in the Wednesday bombing.
The CIA has not yet commented on or confirmed the deaths.
The congressional official said it was not clear how many of the victims were assigned to the CIA. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials in Washington said the suicide attacker detonated explosives Wednesday at Forward Operating Base Chapman in remote Khost province near the Afghan border with Pakistan.
“We mourn the loss of life in this attack and are withholding further details pending notification of next of kin,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.
A senior State Department official said all of the victims were civilians. A former senior CIA officer who was stationed at the base said a combination of agency officers and contractors operated out of the remote outpost with the military and other agencies. He said contractors also might be among those who died.
NATO said only that the base is used by provincial reconstruction teams, which consist of both soldiers and civilians, and other personnel.
In Afghanistan’s south, NATO said that four Canadian troops and a reporter embedded with their unit died when their armored vehicle hit a bomb while on an afternoon patrol south of Kandahar city.
It’s the third-deadliest day for Canadians in Afghanistan since the war began.
Michelle Lang, a 34-year-old health reporter with the Calgary Herald, was the first Canadian journalist to die in Afghanistan.
Lang arrived in Afghanistan just two weeks ago and on Wednesday made her first trip beyond the safe confines of Canada’s base on Kandahar Airfield.
The military has not disclosed the names of the Canadian troops because relatives had not been notified.
