Suicide Attack Outside NATO Base Kills 9 Afghans in Fresh Reprisal toKoran Burnings
Nine people were killed in a suicide strike aimed at a NATO base in Afghanistan on Monday, an attack which the Taliban said was in response to the burnings of copies of the Koran by U.S. military personnel, an action that has triggered spiraling violent protests across the country.
A spokesman for the NATO-led force said there were no fatalities among the coalition from the attack, in which the bomber used a car laden with explosives near the main entrance of eastern Jalalabad’s airport, a key base for the Western troops.
Afghan authorities said Sunday they have identified a suspect in the killing of two U.S. military advisers inside an Afghan ministry a day earlier and have launched a manhunt to track him down. (Feb. 26)
The nine killed were all Afghans and included six civilians who were passing outside the base at the time of the attack, which also left 12 people wounded, a provincial spokesman said.
“This was carried out by one of our Mujahideen Mawlavi Ahmadullah, who volunteered to do it in order to avenge the desecration of the Koran by the U.S. military,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said by phone from an undisclosed location.