Afghan blast during Cheney visit

**Anilrgowda** · 27-Feb-2007, 12:03 AM

At least 19 people have been killed and 10 injured in a suicide attack outside Afghanistan's main US base during a visit by US Vice-President Dick Cheney. Mr Cheney, on an unannounced visit to the region, was staying at the Bagram base, 60km (40 miles) from Kabul.
The US military said the blast did not seem to be aimed at the vice-president, who was safely inside at the time.
A spokesman for the Taleban telephoned the BBC to say his group carried out the attack.
A US spokesman described it as a "direct attack" on the base, which was put on red alert for a while.
"The vice-president is fine," said Mr Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride.
Mr Cheney had breakfast with troops at the base, and was due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai later.
A meeting scheduled for Monday had been delayed because of heavy snow.
The vice-president left the base about 90 minutes after the blast, the White House said.
Rare incident
His visit comes amid increasing concern about insurgent activity in several regions of the country.
But the BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says Bagram is one of the most heavily guarded sites in Afghanistan and such incidents there are extremely rare.
The surrounding territory is heavily mined and people, including children, have frequently been injured by such devices.
Officials said the explosion occurred between the outside security gate and an inner gate guarded by US troops, some distance from living quarters at the base.
Most of the dead were labourers queuing for daily jobs at the base, but there were also foreign soldiers among the casualties.
A trader in a market outside the base described the explosion as "huge", saying it shook market stalls.

Source:BBC NEWS | South Asia | Afghan blast during Cheney visit

27-Feb-2007, 12:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
Anilrgowda Administrator Posts: 18,715 Join Date: Jan 2006 Rep Power: 10 IM:	Afghan blast during Cheney visit At least 19 people have been killed and 10 injured in a suicide attack outside Afghanistan's main US base during a visit by US Vice-President Dick Cheney. Mr Cheney, on an unannounced visit to the region, was staying at the Bagram base, 60km (40 miles) from Kabul. The US military said the blast did not seem to be aimed at the vice-president, who was safely inside at the time. A spokesman for the Taleban telephoned the BBC to say his group carried out the attack. A US spokesman described it as a "direct attack" on the base, which was put on red alert for a while. "The vice-president is fine," said Mr Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride. Mr Cheney had breakfast with troops at the base, and was due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai later. A meeting scheduled for Monday had been delayed because of heavy snow. The vice-president left the base about 90 minutes after the blast, the White House said. Rare incident His visit comes amid increasing concern about insurgent activity in several regions of the country. But the BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says Bagram is one of the most heavily guarded sites in Afghanistan and such incidents there are extremely rare. The surrounding territory is heavily mined and people, including children, have frequently been injured by such devices. Officials said the explosion occurred between the outside security gate and an inner gate guarded by US troops, some distance from living quarters at the base. Most of the dead were labourers queuing for daily jobs at the base, but there were also foreign soldiers among the casualties. A trader in a market outside the base described the explosion as "huge", saying it shook market stalls. Source:BBC NEWS \| South Asia \| Afghan blast during Cheney visit

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