16 people were killed on Tuesday, including 10 civilians and four NATO soldiers, as a suicide bomber blew himself up in eastern Afghanistan.

16 people were killed on Tuesday, including 10 civilians and four NATO soldiers, as a suicide bomber blew himself up in eastern Afghanistan.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying one of its suicide bombers had blown himself up near a NATO patrol in the province of Parwan, north of the capital Kabul.

Parwan governor spokesman Waheed Sediqqi told AFP that ten civilians and two policemen were killed in the attack.

"Four International Security Assistance Force service members died as a result of an enemy forces attack," a statement from the NATO mission said.

In line with coalition policy, it did not name the nationalities of the killed.
Taliban said 15 US Special Forces soldiers were killed.

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