KABUL — A suicide bomber killed 14 people, including three NATO soldiers and four police, and wounded 37 in Afghanistan's volatile eastern Khost province on Monday, a NATO spokeswoman and local officials said. Six civilians and an Afghan interpreter also died in the attack. A witness told Reuters a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform struck as U.S. soldiers patrolled the city of Khost. A NATO spokeswoman confirmed only that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. Provincial Governor Abdul Jabar Nahimi said the bomber had been riding a motorcycle packed with explosives and 37 civilians were wounded in the blast. The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility, although Afghan insurgents are quick to claim any successful attack on foreign troops as their own. The bombing followed the killing of two Americans on Sunday in an exchange of fire with Afghan forces that took the death toll of US military and civilian personnel to over 2,000 in the 11-year war. Insider attacks by members of the Afghan security forces against NATO allies have resulted in 52 deaths this year among foreign forces and this month prompted a tightening of rules for joint patrols between coalition and Afghan forces. NATO to finalize post-2014 Afghan mission shortly NATO will finalize next year the main lines of its future mission in Afghanistan so as to be well prepared for withdrawal and handover to local forces in 2014, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday. Defense ministers from NATO's 28 member and 22 partner countries meeting in Brussels next week will discuss the alliance's role after 2014, when the Kabul government takes over national security in full, Rasmussen said. The meeting should set the outline of the programme which will likely focus on training, advice and assistance, with the final mission terms being set before end-2013 so as to ensure a smooth transition, he said. NATO heads agreed in May at a Chicago summit to launch an assistance mission post-2014 but Rasmussen said he could not give any details as yet. “Our partners share our interest in cooperative security. They share our commitment to stability and they share the burden of our operations," he said, adding that six countries were ready to contribute to the new mission. A NATO source named the six as Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine and Georgia. — Agencies
