Afghanistan: Explosion hits US airbase in Bagram

An explosion has struck the largest US military base in Afghanistan, causing casualties, according to NATO and Afghan officials.
Abdul Shakoor Quddusi, the district governor of Bagram, told Reuters news agency that at least three people were killed and 13 injured in the blast, which he said occurred near a dining facility early on Saturday.
In a brief statement, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said: “We can confirm that there was an explosion at Bagram Airfield this morning just after 5:30am (0100 GMT). There have been casualties. Our Force Protection and medical teams are responding to the situation.”
The US currently has around 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the largest contingent stationed at Bagram airfield.
No armed group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, which occurs as the Taliban step up nationwide attacks before the onset of winter, when fighting usually ebbs.
The explosion underscores a worsening security situation nearly two years after NATO formally ended its combat operations in Afghanistan.
Bagram Airfield, close to Kabul, has frequently come under attack by Taliban fighters.
Last December, a motorcycle-riding Taliban suicide bomber killed six US soldiers near Afghanistan’s largest US military base.
It was one of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops in the country in 2015.
On Thursday, four people were killed and 128 others were wounded when a suicide bomber drove a lorry loaded with explosives into the German consulate in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.

Source: Aljazeera