Kabul - Four civilians were killed and four soldiers were injured by a suicide attack in southern Afghanistan earlier today.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle in front of an Afghan army base in the Shah Joy district of southern Zabul province on Friday, killing four civilians and wounding four soldiers from the Afghan army, Gulob Shah Alikhail, the deputy provincial governor said.

He said that four dead civilians were daily-wage workers, who were queuing to enter the base when the attack took place.

The Taliban took responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on their website. It claimed one of their fighters, named Matiullah Zabuli, carried out the attack.

The statement claimed that 24 Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack and that the base was badly destroyed. However, the Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties they inflict during their operations.

In separate incidents, Afghan and coalition forces killed four suspected militants and detained eight others in operations in northern and eastern provinces, the US military reported in a statement.

Joint forces conducted an operation against the Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin network in Tagab district of north-eastern province of Kapisa. Four militants were killed in a firefight, the statement said.

The militants opened fire and used hand grenades against coalition forces approaching their position, the statement said. The statement added that a child and woman were wounded by the hand grenade explosion and taken to a coalition hospital for treatment.

Three militants were also detained by the joint forces, the statement said.

Five other militants were detained by Afghan and coalition forces in Mandozai district of the south-eastern province of Khost, the statement said.

The arrested men were suspected of carrying out suicide and roadside attacks against the Afghan and international forces in the area, it said.

The Taliban lost control of Afghanistan in 2001. They have recently heavily relied on suicide and roadside attacks in their war against the Western-backed Afghan government.

More than 100 suicide attacks have been conducted by Taliban militants since the beginning of this year in Afghanistan.