Four Americans were killed in a suicide bombing at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan that the Taliban, who have been the first terror group to officially issue a statement on the election of Donald Trump, said they had been planning for four months.
The base outside Kabul is the largest U.S. installation in the country.
“An apparent suicide bomber has taken the lives of two U.S. service members and two U.S. contractors working on the base,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a statement today. “The explosion wounded 16 other U.S. service members and one Polish soldier participating in our NATO mission.”
“I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of the fallen, and I want to reassure the loved ones of those injured that they are getting the best possible care. Force protection is always a top priority for us in Afghanistan, and we will investigate this tragedy to determine any steps we can take to improve it,” Carter added. “For those who carried out this attack, my message is simple. We will not be deterred in our mission to protect our homeland and help Afghanistan secure its own future.”
Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of Resolute Support Mission, said, “To those who target coalition forces, ANDSF, and Afghan civilians, Resolute Support and USFOR-A will continue to pursue our Train, Advise and Assist mission to help our partners create a better Afghanistan.”
The statement from the Taliban inflated the death toll, as they standardly do, to 67 Americans killed.
“Martyrdom seeker Mujahid – Hafiz Muhammad Parwani – had already managed to enter the airfield very tactically along with necessary toll and explosives,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. “…The planning of attack took 4 months, the martyrdom seeker Mujahid had entered the base very cleverly and performed a successful attack that left dozens of invaders killed while they were busy in taking exercise.”
Attack on Bagram base was executed by Hafiz Muhammad Parwani(Pic), TB says the attack killed dozens of Americans including senior officials. pic.twitter.com/LTU6HHVuIZ
— Ahmet Yar (@Pashtunist) November 12, 2016
Two were killed and dozens injured Thursday in a Taliban suicide car bombing outside the German consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in what the terror group claimed was revenge for a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul also took the step — unusual in its details — of warning U.S. citizens about “a possible pending attack targeting foreigners at the Serena Hotel and a guest house located in PD-10 Kabul City.” The Serena, the top luxury hotel in Kabul, has heavy security but was attacked in 2014.
“The attack may be carried out by multiple suicide bombers at each location,” the warning continued.
The day after the U.S. presidential election, the Taliban encouraged Trump to butt out of Afghanistan lest he damage American “prestige” around the world with losses at the hands of the terror group.
“The result of U.S. election shows that Republican presidential candidate – Donald Trump – has been successful,” Mujahid said in a statement Wednesday.
“Our message is that he should give U.S. government a policy of not depriving freedom of other nations of the world and should not seek American interests in the destruction and conviction of other nations, so to make the world safer and end the ongoing crisis.”
“Most importantly, he should withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and unlike other former U.S. rulers, he should neither seek any more titles of ignominy for his self and American generals, nor worsen the American prestige, economy and military by engaging in this futile war,” Mujahid added.
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