AFP - A suicide bomber blew himself up near a military base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday killing four Afghan soldiers and a civilian, officials said.

The attacker dressed in a military uniform walked up to the main gate of the Bermel military base in Paktika province before detonating his explosives, said Ghami Khan, spokesman for the provincial governor.

"Four Afghan soldiers and an Afghan civilian were martyred and five civilians were wounded in the suicide blast," Khan said.

The military compound is the base for Afghan army soldiers and NATO-led forces in the district which is close to the border with Pakistan.

Paktika shares a long porous border with the restive tribal belt of Pakistan where the United States has said pro-Taliban militants and the Al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden are regrouping.

Afghan authorities often accuse Pakistan of turning a blind eye to militants crossing into Afghanistan, allegations that Islamabad strongly denies.

Meanwhile the US-led coalition and Afghan troops killed several Taliban militants in a firefight in troubled southern Helmand province on Saturday, the coalition said.

"Afghan national security and coalition forces engaged and killed several Taliban fighters today," it said in a statement without giving a specific toll.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, US-led coalition and Afghan troops are battling an increasingly bloody insurgency waged by Taliban militants and joined by other radical factions.

The hardline Taliban regime was ousted from power in Afghanistan by international military forces in 2001.

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