Afghan suicide attack kills 20 including one US soldier

At least 20 civilians and an American soldier have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack against a US convoy in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The attack happened near Jalalabad, the capital of the eastern Nangarhar province.

At least 55 others have been wounded and taken to hospital, officials said.

A large number of foreign and Afghan troops are battling the Taleban in the south and east of the country and are routinely targeted by the militants.

The attacker detonated an explosives-laden vehicle close to the convoy on the road between the town of Torkham, on the Pakistani border, and Jalalabad, news agency AFP reported.

The incident took place near a wholesale fresh fruit market and an animal market in an area often packed with people, it said.

"One American soldier was wounded in the bombing and he died during transportation," AFP quoted Major John Redfield, a spokesman for the US-led coalition as saying.