The blast struck near Camp Salerno, a mainly US base on the outskirts of the town of Khost, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border with Pakistan, the officials said.

"There was an explosion in the vicinity of Salerno... initial reports indicate it was a suicide vehicle," a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in eastern Afghanistan told AFP.

First reports said five Afghan children, a woman and a man were wounded, said the spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Rumi Nielson-Green.

"There are no ISAF forces being reported as casualties so far," she said.

The blast appeared to have been aimed at a smaller ISAF base near Salerno, she said. Camp Salerno is the biggest US base in eastern Afghanistan.

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP there had been a suicide attack but had no information on casualties.

Khost has seen regular suicide attacks, including one on December 28 that left 14 children and two adults dead.

Suicide bombs are a main feature of an extremist insurgency being led by the Taliban, who were in government between 1996 to 2001.

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