KABUL: One woman was killed and at least 80 people were wounded on Wednesday by two powerful blasts outside Bagram airfield, a key US base in Afghanistan, officials said.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the militant group was behind the attack, adding that the attackers included suicide bombers, who were armed with light and heavy machine guns.
The blasts were followed by a lengthy gun battle involving Afghan and US-led troops outside the airbase.
Five Georgian troops were also injured in the attack, according to their country’s Defense Ministry.
The first attack of its kind in several months in Afghanistan comes amid ongoing formal talks between the Taliban and US diplomats in Qatar, which began after President Donald Trump announced Washington’s readiness for the resumption of negotiations with the group in a surprise visit two weeks ago.
This announcement came after he abruptly called off the talks in September following a Taliban attack in Kabul, which killed one US serviceman.
Abdul Shokor Qodousi, district chief of Bagram, told reporters that part of the wall of the heavily fortified base was damaged by the blasts, which were caused by two suicide bombers in vehicles.
“More than 50 Afghans, many of them civilians — including women and children — have been wounded by the debris and glasses of houses damaged by the blasts,” he said.
A spokesman for the governor of Parwarn province, of which Bagram is part of, said the target of the attack appeared to have been a convoy of foreign troops that was passing on a road to the south of the base at dawn.
“One group of assailants then entered a medical clinic under construction and have been fighting with troops outside,” the spokesman for governor Wahida Shahkar told Arab News.
Radio Parwan repeatedly called on locals to refrain from visiting the clinic due to the ongoing operation by local forces, adding that the target of the attack was the Bagram airbase. The US-led coalition in a statement confirmed the reports. It said the strike was “repelled” and that there were no casualties among US or coalition troops.
It did not say who the attackers were. The Taliban spokesmen could not be reached for comment immediately. While Daesh sympathizers are also active in some parts of the country, they are not as strongly equipped as the Taliban, who have carried out similar attacks in the past against Afghan and US bases.
“If the Taliban claim responsibility for it, then it may again lead to the halt of talks, although, there has been no agreement from either side that they will stop attacks while the negotiations go on or no pre-condition was attached before the resumption of the talks,” Taj Mohammad Ahmadzada, an analyst told Arab News.
The Afghan government, which was left out of last year’s nine rounds of talks, has been pushing for the enforcement of a truce before the talks are held.
It argues that the political leaders of the Taliban do not have much clout over the military field commanders in announcing a cease-fire as the commanders may disobey them.
They also say that by announcing a cease-fire as talks go on and before a full agreement on the future political setup, the insurgents may not be willing to rejoin the insurgency if there is no breakthrough.
For their part, the Taliban say they will announce a truce only after the US agrees on a timetable for the withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan.
Following repeated efforts of painting a rosy image of the Afghan war, which is entering its 19th year — the longest conflict in US history — the Washington Post reported a few days ago – based on interviews with top former US and Afghan officials — that successive governments were lying to the public about the war.
While Trump keeps on changing his stance on the war, former and current US generals have been warning him that an exit without a solid deal with the Taliban and involving the Afghan government will embolden the insurgency, who will see themselves as victors.
