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Deadly Explosion Hits Afghan Airfield

Deadly Explosion Hits Afghan Airfield
Deadly Explosion Hits Afghan Airfield

A deadly explosion hit Bagram Airfield, the largest and main US military airbase in Afghanistan’s central Parwan Province on Saturday, the US military said.

The attack struck just after 5:30 a.m. (0100 GMT), DW reported.

Waheed Sediqi, spokesman for the governor of Parwan, said the blast was caused by a suicide attacker who blew himself up near a dining facility. “We don’t know the identity of victims yet, but the attacker was one of the Afghan laborers working there,” Sediqi said.

In a statement, US Army General John W. Nicholson, the commander of NATO’s “Resolute Support” mission, confirmed that four were killed and at least 14 wounded.

“To the family and friends of those who lost their lives today, we share your loss and our thoughts are with you,” Nicholson said in a statement. “We offer you our deepest condolences.”

Talban’s Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid took to Twitter to take responsibility and claimed a heavy death toll.

Bagram Airfield, which lies about 58 kilometers (36 miles) north of the capital, Kabul, has frequently come under attack by Taliban insurgents. A motorcycle-riding Taliban suicide attacker killed six US soldiers near the same US military base last December in one of the deadliest attacks on foreign soldiers that year.

Nearly 10,000 US troops are stationed in Afghanistan, assisting Afghan security forces under the Train, Advise and Assist mission.

Four people were killed and 128 others were wounded on Thursday when a suicide bomber drove a truck laden with explosives into the German Consulate in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.

The Taliban said the attack was in retaliation for US airstrikes near the northern city of Kunduz last week, which killed more than 30 civilians.

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