Afghanistan: 4 dead in blast at Bagram Airfield
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)An attack killed four people and injured more than a dozen others on Saturday when an explosive device was detonated at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the NATO mission there said.
The Taliban’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet praising the Taliban’s “strong attack on Bagram airfield.”
In a statement, the spokesman said a Taliban suicide bomber had targeted “a sports ground where more than 100 military officers, important people and soldiers were busy exercising.”
The attack on the airfield had been planned for four months, he said.
“To the family and friends of those who lost their lives today, we share your loss and our thoughts are with you. We offer you our deepest condolences,” said US Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of Resolute Support.
“For the family and friends of those wounded in today’s attack, let me assure you they are receiving the best care possible, and we will keep them in our thoughts today,” Nicholson said.
NATO said 14 people were injured in the incident, which happened just after 5:30 a.m. local time. Its force protection and medical teams responded.
Haji Shokoor, the district governor of Bagram, told CNN that “the people killed in the blast were foreign citizens, but we don’t know their nationalities.” Shokoor said the injured are all Afghan nationals.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted his support to those affected by the attack and said NATO stood with Afghanistan in the fight against terror.
The airfield is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan and is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, southeast of Charikar in Parwan province. Bagram is located more than 30 miles north of Kabul, the nation’s capital.
Source:Â http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/11/asia/afghanistan-bagram-blast/
