News / Afghanistan

One killed, about 100 injured in attack on US military base in Bagram

Wednesday, 11 December 2019 7:51 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 11 December 2019 9:51 AM ]

An F-16 takes off at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, on a combat sortie on March 14, 2016.

At least one person is dead and about 100 others injured in bomb blasts and ensuing clashes after an attack on the United States' largest military base in Afghanistan, officials say.

The attack took place on Wednesday near the entrance to Bagram Airfield, coming as the US looks to revive stalled peace talks with Taliban militants who control more territory than at any point since 2001.

Officials said two attackers detonated vehicles laden with explosives at the southern entrance to the base, while five opened fire. A 30-minute clash ensued between the attackers who obviously wanted to enter the base, and foreign forces.

A local police chief said one woman had been killed and around 100 people injured. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the massive coordinated attack, but it bears all the hallmarks of the Taliban.

The attack comes shortly after President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to Bagram on November 28.

It also comes after a confidential trove of US government documents made public by The Washington Post on Monday revealed that American officials have “constantly lied to” the US public about what has been going on in the now 18-year war on Afghanistan.

Govt. docs show US officials ‘constantly lied’ about Afghan war

Confidential US government documents recently publicized by a newspaper show that American officials “constantly” lied to the US public about the Afghan war.

On Saturday, the United States resumed talks with the Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha. Trump ended yearlong talks with the militants in September, when an agreement appeared imminent.

The US president abruptly called off the talks after the death of a US soldier in a Taliban attack.

The United States wants the Taliban to stop attacks on its troops in Afghanistan as part of the deal, but the militants demand that American forces leave the country once and for all.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and overthrew a Taliban regime in power at the time, vowing to bring stability to the war-ravaged nation.

However, US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump.

More than 14,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan and Trump has repeatedly expressed his frustration with their continued deployment.

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