Afghanistan truck bomb kills two, foreign troops among 70 wounded

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed two people and wounded more than 70 in volatile eastern Afghanistan on Friday, officials said, with several foreign troops among those injured.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in Maidan Shahr, the provincial capital of Wardak province, 35 km (22 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul, but it was unclear what the target was.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said fewer than six coalition troops had sustained minor injuries in the bombing close to the provincial governor's office, but gave no further details.

The bomber detonated explosives packed into a water tanker truck about 40 meters from a joint operations centre run by Afghan and coalition troops, Ahmad Wali, a senior police official, told Reuters by telephone.

In a text message sent to journalists, the Taliban claimed responsibility.

The United States has a sizable troop contingent based in Wardak province, where a twin suicide bombing targeting a NATO base killed eight civilians and four Afghan policemen in September.

Wardak saw the worst single incident suffered by foreign forces in the 11-year war when the Taliban shot down a transport helicopter last year, killing 38 troops, 30 of whom were American, mostly elite Navy SEALs.

(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Martin Petty; Editing by Nick Macfie)