KABUL: A Taliban suicide bomber killed 16 people including 10 civilians and four Czech soldiers in an attack in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said, as foreign troops wind down their war against the insurgents.

Czech chief of staff Petr Pavel told reporters in Prague that the bomber was in a crowd of Afghans talking to soldiers who were investigating rocket attacks against Bagram airbase, a major US military facility nearby.

The attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, comes as Afghanistan is mired in political crisis, with a bitter row raging over allegations of fraud in the presidential runoff election.

Waheed Sediqqi, spokesman for the governor of Parwan province, said that 10 civilians and two policemen were killed in the attack as well as the four soldiers.

The insurgents said 15 US special forces soldiers were killed. They routinely make exaggerated claims after such attacks.

About 250 Czech soldiers serve among the 50,000 US-led Nato troops still deployed in Afghanistan.

Nato’s combat mission will wrap up at the end of this year, with 10,000 US troops staying into next year if the new president signs a security deal with Washington.

About 3,450 coalition troops have been killed in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001 when the Taliban regime was ousted from power.—AFP

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that any attempt to seize power in the election crisis would cost the country its international aid.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2014