Suicide bomber targets Cheney visit to US base UPDATE |
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Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:45
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(Updating with further details)BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFX) - A suicide bomber killed at least 14 people outside the main US military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday as US Vice President Dick Cheney visited.Cheney was not hurt in the incident which was claimed by the Taliban militia. A US and a South Korean soldier were reported to be among the dead.The vice president was on an unannounced trip to Afghanistan for talks on the battle against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Bad weather had forced him to stay overnight at the Bagram Air Base.The Taliban said it carried out the attack on the heavily-fortified US base, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Kabul.'The vice president is safe,' spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said at Bagram. 'The vice president is fine.'The bomber struck at 10:00am as Cheney was preparing to fly to Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on how to defeat a feared spring offensive by the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies.Amid conflicting reports of the death toll, an AFP reporter outside the base saw 11 bodies being brought out and handed over to relatives.The US-led coalition said three foreign nationals were killed, including a US soldier. In Seoul military officials said a South Korean soldier had died.Twenty-seven people were wounded, the coalition said.A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, told AFP by telephone that one of the movement's fighters had carried out the attack.The Taliban has carried out scores of attacks in Afghanistan and the latest one underlined the fragile security situation in the country.newsdeak@afxnews.comafp/jlcCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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Suicide attack at US military base in Afghanistan as Cheney visits - UPDATE 