Cheney unhurt in Afghan blast

BAGRAM AIRBASE – A suicide bomber killed at least 10 people yesterday in an attack on the main US military base in Afghanistan where Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting after an unannounced visit.

US officials said Cheney was not hurt in the blast – which took place outside a gate at the sprawling Bagram Airbase, about 60 km from Kabul – but a US soldier died. Soon after the blast, Cheney went ahead with planned talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital, Kabul.The meeting had been scheduled for Monday, but was delayed when Cheney was snowed in at Bagram soon after arriving from Islamabad on a secrecy-shrouded visit.The former Afghan rulers, the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the blast, adding the bomber knew the US Vice President was in the country.Conflicting reports from outside the airbase put the death toll at between 10 and 20 people, with several injured.But the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said only four people, including the car bomber, died and 23 were injured, including military personnel from the base.”It was a suicide attack.I can see 10 bodies scattered outside the base,” said Haji Khawani, a police officer at the scene.The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press agency, quoting other police sources, said 20 people had been killed.Cheney’s visit comes as Washington warned that al Qaeda and its Taliban allies were regrouping on Pakistan and Afghan soil.The US has about 27 000 soldiers in Afghanistan, where it says defeating the Taliban is vital for its own security.Last year was the bloodiest since the US-led forces ousted the Taliban’s Islamist government in 2001 for refusing to surrender Osama bin Ladden in the wake of September 11.In Pakistan, Cheney pressed President Pervez Musharraf to do more about Taliban and other militants using its territory for shelter and training.Nampa-ReutersSoon after the blast, Cheney went ahead with planned talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital, Kabul.The meeting had been scheduled for Monday, but was delayed when Cheney was snowed in at Bagram soon after arriving from Islamabad on a secrecy-shrouded visit.The former Afghan rulers, the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the blast, adding the bomber knew the US Vice President was in the country.Conflicting reports from outside the airbase put the death toll at between 10 and 20 people, with several injured.But the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said only four people, including the car bomber, died and 23 were injured, including military personnel from the base.”It was a suicide attack.I can see 10 bodies scattered outside the base,” said Haji Khawani, a police officer at the scene.The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press agency, quoting other police sources, said 20 people had been killed.Cheney’s visit comes as Washington warned that al Qaeda and its Taliban allies were regrouping on Pakistan and Afghan soil.The US has about 27 000 soldiers in Afghanistan, where it says defeating the Taliban is vital for its own security.Last year was the bloodiest since the US-led forces ousted the Taliban’s Islamist government in 2001 for refusing to surrender Osama bin Ladden in the wake of September 11.In Pakistan, Cheney pressed President Pervez Musharraf to do more about Taliban and other militants using its territory for shelter and training.Nampa-Reuters