Afghan Attack Leaves at Least 9 Dead, Cheney Unhurt (Update7)
By Brendan Murray
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- A suicide attack at the entrance to Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan where Vice President Dick Cheney was staying killed at least nine people, including a U.S. soldier, and wounded 21 others.
``I heard a loud boom, and shortly after that, the Secret Service came in and told me there had been an attack on the main gate, apparently a suicide bomber,'' Cheney, who was unharmed, told reporters later aboard his plane enroute to Muscat, Oman.
Cheney, who was forced to make an unscheduled overnight stay on the base because bad weather prevented him from getting to Kabul for a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, was hustled to a nearby bomb shelter when the explosion occurred about 10 a.m. local time.
A representative of the Taliban, which U.S. officials warn is preparing a renewed offensive against Karzai's government, claimed responsibility for the attack and said Cheney was the target, the Associated Press reported. While a statement from the U.S. military at Bagram put the death toll at nine, including the bomber, the AP, citing Afghan authorities, reported that as many as 23 people were killed, most of them local workers at the base, and 20 were wounded.
The vice president made unannounced stops in Pakistan and Afghanistan at the behest of President George W. Bush to prod Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to cooperate and take more aggressive action against Taliban militants and al- Qaeda cells re-establishing operations in the remote and largely uncontrolled border between the two countries.
`Wake-Up Call'
The attack should serve as a ``wake-up call'' for the international community about the deteriorating security situation in parts of Afghanistan, said Frederick Barton, the co-author of a report on the conflict issued last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Barton, a senior adviser at the center, said the bombing occurred in a part of Afghanistan that has been relatively secure. ``When bad things happen in good places, it's a little scarier,'' he said.
The incident may reinforce ``the larger fear'' that many Afghans have about whether the Taliban will mount a successful comeback. ``They worry about who's in charge,'' he said. ``Is the new order going to stick, or is it going to be back to the old way of life? It's that nervousness that drives a lot of the instability.''
Taliban Assault
The Taliban ``clearly tried to find ways to question the authority of the central government'' Cheney said on the flight out of Afghanistan. ``Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that.''
The suicide bomber appears to have been on foot, according to a statement from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization force in Afghanistan.
The dead include a U.S. soldier, a South Korean soldier with NATO forces, a contractor for the U.S. government and local civilians, Army Lieutenant Colonel David Accetta said in a statement. The bomber and five victims were killed at the scene and the others died during emergency treatment, among them a 12- year-old Afghan boy.
Accetta said 21 injured people were being treated by medical personnel at the base. Noting the discrepancy in the casualty count, he said the military was working with provincial authorities to determine the exact number of victims.
Meeting With Karzai
After the attack, Cheney left for the Afghan capital, arriving at 12:15 p.m. local time for a meeting with Karzai at the heavily guarded presidential palace. In a brief appearance before reporters the two leaders talked about the harsh weather conditions and Cheney's eight-day long trip, making no mention of the bombing.
Cheney's trip has taken him from Tokyo to Sydney to Muscat in Oman as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In Pakistan, Cheney pressed Musharraf to take more aggressive action against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces that the U.S. says are operating in tribal areas along the border.
Pakistan ``remains a major source of Islamic extremism and the home for some top terrorist leaders,'' Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell said in remarks today to the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington.
Some Democrats in Congress say they are skeptical about Pakistan's efforts to quash the Taliban. ``There are no encouraging signs that Pakistan is eliminating'' the Taliban's sanctuaries in the mountains, said Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Armed Service panel.
Pakistan's government, in a statement released after Cheney's meeting with Musharraf, said the U.S. vice president expressed concern about the ``regrouping of al-Qaeda in the tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat.''
`Joint Responsibility'
Pakistan, Afghanistan, U.S. troops and NATO forces will have to take ``joint responsibility of stopping illegal crossings,'' the Pakistani statement said.
Bush earlier this month ordered an increase in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and asked NATO allies to strengthen their commitment there.
U.K. Defense Secretary Des Browne announced yesterday that Britain will deploy 1,400 more soldiers in Afghanistan, bringing its contingent to 7,700. NATO's Afghanistan force now has about 34,000 soldiers from 37 countries.
NATO blames the loss of control over the border partly on a decision last year by Musharraf to give tribal leaders in the region greater autonomy. Musharraf and Karzai, meantime, have bickered over who's to blame for the Taliban's resurgence.
At least 4,000 Afghan civilians were killed in the fighting in 2006 as the Taliban sought to regain control of the southeastern provinces. Roadside bombings almost doubled last year and suicide bombings grew almost fivefold, making 2006 the most violent year since the Taliban were overthrown following the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.
Bush earlier this month warned of more fighting once the winter passes.
