"Unfortunately, three of our soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in the attack. The situation is now normal and security forces are present in the area", a Paktia Security Command spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, provincial spokesman Abdul Rahman Mangal confirmed that a bomb had exploded in Gardez. Governor of Paktia Province Mohammad Halim Fidai has said in a statement that at least six servicemen of the Afghan Public Protection Force were injured.
"The first blast occurred at 5:30 am [01:30 GMT on Tuesday] … Security forces cleared the area and two suicide bombers were killed. So far, six members of the public protection forces have been injured", Fidai said.
The Taliban* took responsibility for the bomb blast, claiming that dozens of Afghan soldiers were killed and wounded as a result of the explosion.
The security situation in Afghanistan remains tense. In August, the Kabul administration agreed to free the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners, which is expected to pave the way for intra-Afghan talks under the US-Taliban peace deal.
*Taliban is a terrorist organization banned in Russia
