BAGRAM – Suicide bombers carrying rockets and grenades launched a predawn attack on one of the biggest Nato military bases in Afghanistan yesterday, killing an American contractor.
Nine US soldiers were also wounded. About a dozen militants, many wearing suicide vests packed with explosives, were killed, the Pentagon said.
The fighting came the day after a suicide bomber attacked a military convoy in Kabul, killing 12 Afghan civilians and six foreign troops. The attacks may mark the start of a Taliban spring offensive against foreign targets.
The assault on Bagram air base, about an hours drive north of Kabul and holding mainly US troops, began in the predawn hours when about 30 Taliban insurgents attacked near the base’s gates. It continued for hours with rocket and small-arms fire.
A spokesman with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would not disclose the name or profession of the American contractor killed until his family had been notified.
One rocket landed inside the base, causing minor damage, but no insurgents managed to get inside Bagram, ISAF said.
The Taliban said four suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the base’s gates and others managed to get inside, but the Islamist group often exaggerates its operations.
The Taliban have announced an offensive from May 20th against the government, foreign forces and diplomats in Afghanistan in response to Nato plans for an operation against the group’s southern stronghold of Kandahar.
Bagram is the main base for the US-led troops in Afghanistan, with the largest airfield in the country. It was used by the former Soviet Union during its invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Since it was taken over by U.S. troops, it has also housed a prison for Afghans detained by American forces. The centre has sewn resentment among Afghans because of reports of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners. Removed from power by US-backed forces in 2001, the Taliban have made a comeback despite the growing number of foreign troops, now standing at some 140,000.