Nato military base attacked by suicide bomber in Afghanistan

Taliban claims responsibility for truck bomb in which 89 people, including 77 soldiers, were injured

Jeremy Kelly in Kabul
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 11 September 2011 10.28 BST

At least 77 Nato soldiers have been wounded after a suicide bomber drove an explosives-filled truck to a military base and detonated it.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, making it one of the bloodiest days of the Afghan conflict.

The blast tore a six-metre (20ft) hole in the wall of the base, in the Sayed Abad district of the eastern province of Wardak. The explosives were set off about 75 metres from the entrance to the base, and the truck was filled with nine tonnes of explosives, the Taliban said in a message to journalists.

It is believed many of the victims were injured by a fire caused by the explosion, which happened at 5pm local time (12.30pm GMT) on Saturday.

A US army spokesman, Major David Eastburn, said 50 US soldiers were among a total of 89 wounded, but a separate source put the number of wounded at 77, with 59 of those having to be taken by Medevac helicopter to nearby bases.

A statement from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said: "All are being treated, and none is immediately life-threatening." The nationalities of the other injured were unknown.

Most of the force of the explosion was absorbed by the protective barrier at the outpost entrance, but the impact to the compound was "readily repairable and operations are continuing", the statement said.

Recent high-profile insurgent attacks have often used suicide bombs to commence complex attacks, but ISAF said there was no attempt by others to enter the base.

In the Sayed Abad district, about 45 miles south-west of Kabul, insurgents used rocket-propelled grenades to bring down a helicopter last month, killing 38 people including 30 US soldiers.

Militants also attacked the US military's main airport in Afghanistan with rockets.

The attack on Bagram airfield killed two Afghan security guards and wounded seven other people, including three US soldiers, a military source said.

Two bomb attacks in the country's east and north killed 10 civilians on Saturday, including three women and two children, local officials said. Despite the carnage, the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks was being marked at a ceremony at the US embassy in Kabul, with talk of progress being made.

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