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Taliban attack at US base kills 5
Source: Agencies |
September 12, 2011, Monday
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NEARLY 80 American soldiers were wounded and five Afghans civilians were killed in a Taliban truck bombing that targeted an American base in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said yesterday, a stark reminder that the war in Afghanistan still rages 10 years after the 9/11 terror attacks that prompted it.
No US soldiers were killed in Saturday night's bombing, which took place hours after the Taliban vowed to keep fighting US forces in Afghanistan until all American troops leave the country. The insurgent movement also stressed that it had no role in the September 11 attacks.
The blast shaved the facades from shops outside Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in Wardak province and broke windows in government offices nearby, said Roshana Wardak, a former parliamentarian who runs a clinic in the nearby town of the same name.
Eight wounded civilians were brought to Wardak's clinic, two of them with wounds serious enough that they were sent to Kabul. She said a three-year-old girl died on the way to the clinic.
The Wardak governor's office confirmed the death toll and said a total of 17 Afghans were wounded - 14 civilians and three security officers.
The attack was carried out by a Taliban suicide bomber who detonated a large bomb inside a truck carrying firewood, NATO said. It was unclear how many foreign and Afghan soldiers were serving on the base.
"Most of the force of the explosion was absorbed by the protective barrier at the outpost entrance," NATO said, adding that the damage was repairable and that operations were continuing.
NATO said none of the 77 injuries suffered by the Americans was life-threatening. Spokesman Major Russell Fox said yesterday all the international troops at the combat outpost are American.
The governor's office said the blast was so powerful that it damaged more than 100 shops in Sayed Abad's main bazaar, the hospital and the small town's administration building.
Yesterday the US Embassy in Kabul held a memorial service to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. A military band played as US troops raised an American flag in front of about 300 assembled US and Afghan officials.
No US soldiers were killed in Saturday night's bombing, which took place hours after the Taliban vowed to keep fighting US forces in Afghanistan until all American troops leave the country. The insurgent movement also stressed that it had no role in the September 11 attacks.
The blast shaved the facades from shops outside Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in Wardak province and broke windows in government offices nearby, said Roshana Wardak, a former parliamentarian who runs a clinic in the nearby town of the same name.
Eight wounded civilians were brought to Wardak's clinic, two of them with wounds serious enough that they were sent to Kabul. She said a three-year-old girl died on the way to the clinic.
The Wardak governor's office confirmed the death toll and said a total of 17 Afghans were wounded - 14 civilians and three security officers.
The attack was carried out by a Taliban suicide bomber who detonated a large bomb inside a truck carrying firewood, NATO said. It was unclear how many foreign and Afghan soldiers were serving on the base.
"Most of the force of the explosion was absorbed by the protective barrier at the outpost entrance," NATO said, adding that the damage was repairable and that operations were continuing.
NATO said none of the 77 injuries suffered by the Americans was life-threatening. Spokesman Major Russell Fox said yesterday all the international troops at the combat outpost are American.
The governor's office said the blast was so powerful that it damaged more than 100 shops in Sayed Abad's main bazaar, the hospital and the small town's administration building.
Yesterday the US Embassy in Kabul held a memorial service to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. A military band played as US troops raised an American flag in front of about 300 assembled US and Afghan officials.
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