Suicide attack outside NATO base in Kandahar

A suicide car bomber struck outside the main NATO base in southern Afghanistan, killing two civilians and wounding 14 other people, as U.S. Marines pressed a major anti-Taliban offensive in a neighboring province. The bomber blew himself up near the gates of Kandahar Airfield, said Gen. Sher Mohammad Zazai, the top military commander for southern Afghanistan. Those wounded included 12 civilians and two Afghan soldiers, Zazai said. Initially police said four soldiers were wounded. The attack came as thousands of U.S. Marines in neighboring Helmand province mounted a major offensive against the Taliban. Over the weekend, insurgent attacks killed three British soldiers in the province, a militant stronghold and hub of the vast Afghan drugs trade.