Suicide attack kills 2 Afghan civilians, injures 100 outside U.S. military base

[News_Editor]

Suicide attack kills 2 Afghan civilians, injures 100 outside U.S. military base

2011-09-11 16:20:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Two Afghan civilians were killed on Saturday and around 100 others were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden truck outside a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday afternoon.

The attack happened at around 5.30 p.m. local time when a suspected Taliban insurgent detonated his explosive-laden truck at the entrance of Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, which is located in Wardak province near the capital of Kabul.

"We believe that two Afghan civilians died, and our thoughts are with those families," a spokesperson for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. "Additionally, we believe the insurgent driver of the [vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED)] is dead."

In addition to the fatalities, an ISAF spokesperson confirmed around 100 people had been injured. "Seventy-seven ISAF personnel and less than 25 Afghan civilians have received non-life-threatening injuries," the spokesperson said. "The majority of injured ISAF personnel will likely return to duties shortly."

The spokesperson said most of the force of the explosion was absorbed by the protective barrier at the post entrance. "The explosion damaged the compound entrance and was not followed-up by any subsequent attacks," the spokesperson said, adding that operations at the post were continuing.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack. "The martyr-seeking Mujahid (Muslim fighter) of Islamic Emirate (the Taliban) blew up his truck stuffed with some nine thousand kilograms (19,840 pounds) explosives, slamming it at the US terrorists' base, eliminating the enemy base in addition to damaging a large part of the district faculty of the district Syedabad," he said.

The attack came on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes before crashing two of them into the World Trade Center in New York and another into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth, United Flight 93, crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-11

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