Insurgents detonated a vehicle-borne IED (Improvised Explosive Device) outside a US base in eastern Afghan province of Khowst on Monday, killing nine Afghans and wounding another 13, said a Coalition statement.

The explosion did not penetrate the base's perimeter and Afghan security forces thwarted an additional IED outside the base, the statement said.

US forces assisted in evacuating the wounded to the base hospital and are providing medical care.

"This bombing is another example of the brutality and the lack of regard the enemy shows to the Afghan people," Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, the US spokesperson for Combined Joint Task Force-101 said.

No group or individual has yet to claim responsibility for the bombing.

Taliban insurgents who staged a violent comeback three years ago have intensified their activities across Afghanistan over the past weeks to mount pressure on the government despite around 70,000 foreign troops stationed in the war-torn country vowing to keep peace and help reconstruction here.

Conflicts and spiraling insurgency have claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people including militants, troops and civilians so far this year in Afghanistan.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2008)