Planner of military base attack killed: Afghan intelligence agency

Kabul, Jan 23 (IANS) Afghan security forces have killed the mastermind of the deadly bombing on a military base in eastern Afghanistan that took place earlier this week, the country's intelligence agency said on Wednesday.At least 36 security force members, mostly intelligence agency personnel, were killed and 58 others wounded when armed Taliban militants attacked a military base in Maidan Shahr, about 44 km southwest of Kabul, on Monday. The base was reportedly a training centre for Afghanistan's national intelligence service -- the National Directorate of Security (NDS). Several reports said over 100 people were killed in the strike. The exact toll hasn't been verified yet.The NDS said in a statement that Taliban commander Numan was killed along with seven terrorists following an airstrike in Maidan Shar district at 11.12 p.m. on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.Afghan and insurgent officials said a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden US-made armoured military vehicle, known as a Humvee, into the NDS centre and detonated it before three heavily armed men tried to storm the facility. Officials, however, blamed the massive Humvee bombing for causing most the casualties because Afghan forces swiftly engaged and shot dead other assailants, reports say.
--IANS soni/