A suicide car bombing and gun battle at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan killed at least two people and injured dozens more, just days after talks between the Trump administration and the Taliban resumed in Qatar.
It was unclear how many people were killed or wounded and the circumstances of the Wednesday, December 11 attack near Bagram airfield in Parwan province were murky. At least one woman was among the dead and over 70 people were reported injured.
“Enemy Forces conducted an attack on Bagram airfield this morning, targeting a medical facility being constructed to help the Afghan people who live near the base. The attack was quickly contained and repelled by our ANDSF and Coalition partners, but the future medical facility was badly damaged. There were no U.S. or Coalition casualties and Bagram remained secure throughout the attack,” a spokesperson for NATO’s Resolute Support mission told The Defense Post in a statement.
District governor Abdul Shukoor Qudoosi, however, said that the car bomb hit the airfield and a wall was breached, a Wall Street Journal reporter said. At least 50 civilians were injured, he said.
“The explosion happened in front of the gate of the Korean hospital which is almost adjacent to Bagram airfield,” AFP reported the Parwan governor’s spokeswoman Wahida Shahkar as saying.
The Taliban later said it was responsible for detonating a truck bomb outside the base.
Bagram airfield in Afghanistan’s eastern Parwan province is home to U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan as well as NATO’s Resolute Support and Afghan forces. In October 2018, five Czech soldiers were injured while their patrol convoy was hit by a vehicle bomb near Bagram.
Wednesday’s attack comes just says after the U.S. State Department said special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, the Trump administration’s top negotiator in Afghanistan, would restart peace talks with the Taliban in Doha.
This is a developing story and will be updated.