Truck bomb injures scores in Afghanistan

After a truck bomb struck a coalition base in Afghanistan Saturday, at least two Afghan civilians are dead, and as many as 77 U.S. troops have been injured.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in Wardak, a central east province in Afghanistan. The attack was not disclosed by NATO until early Sunday morning, reports CNN.

This was a high profile attack, General John R Allen, the commander of coalition and U.S. forces in Afghanistan told CNN. "It was a pretty significant suicide vehicle bomb," he said.

No Americans died during Saturday's bombing, but the casualty count is one of the largest in a western military istallation.

One of the civilians killed was an 8-year-old girl, and one was an Afghan policeman. 17 other Afghans were injured, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Conflicting reports about the casualities are circulating. The Los Angeles Times reports that 5 Afghans were killed, where as Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the Wardak province said that three people had died. NATO has said that two people have died, CNN reports.

The Taliban said in a statement that as many as 50 US troops were killed. This exaggeration is not uncommon of the group- who like to broadcast the effectiveness of the attacks, reports CNN.

According to Shahidullah, the blast has devastated the district center in Wardak; damaging government buildings, including a hospital, reports the Los Angeles Times.

According to a statement by ISAF, the outposts protective barriers have absorbed most of the explosion, thus it has not damaged the outpost.