War in Afghanistan rages on

No U.S. troops were killed when the massive bomb loaded on a truck filled with firewood exploded Saturday night just outside the gates of Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in eastern Wardak province. NATO said a protective barrier at the entrance absorbed most of the force of the blast, although the area out- side the base was hit hard.

Officials said the Afghans killed included a policeman and four civilians, including a 3-year-old girl. Another 17 Afghans — 14 civilians and three policemen — were wounded. The provincial governor said the blast was so powerful it damaged about 100 shops in the nearby Sayed Abad bazaar.

Although Saturday’s truck bombing occurred outside the base, the numbers of injuries it caused was significant. Combat outposts usually house about 200 troops.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, they had issued a statement vowing to fight until all foreign troops leave. The radical Islamic movement, which gave shelter to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida when it ruled Afghanistan, also stressed that it had no role in the Sept. 11 attacks, and it accused the U.S. of using them as a pretext to invade the country.

"The Afghans have an endless stamina for a long war,” the statement said. "Through a countrywide uprising, the Afghans will send the Americans to the dustbin of history like they sent other empires of the past.”

The attack occurred just over 40 miles , or about an hour’s drive, from Kabul in an increasingly lawless district in a key province that controls a strategic approach to the capital.