Bomb at US base in Afghanistan wounds 77 Americans

By RAHIM FAIEZ
Associated Press

Nearly 80 American soldiers were wounded and two Afghan civilians were killed when a Taliban truck bomb struck an American base in eastern Afghanistan on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks against the United States, NATO said Sunday.

Saturday's blast shaved the facades from shops outside the Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in Wardak province and broke windows in government offices nearby, said Roshana Wardak, a former parliamentarian who runs a clinic in the nearby town of the same name. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack was carried out by a Taliban bomber who detonated a large bomb inside a truck carrying firewood, NATO said.

"Most of the force of the explosion was absorbed by the protective barrier at the outpost entrance," NATO said, adding that the damage was repairable and that operations were continuing.

Fewer than 25 Afghan civilians were also wounded, NATO said, adding that none of the 77 injuries sustained by the Americans were life-threatening. Spokesman Maj. Russell Fox said Sunday that all the international troops at the combat outpost are American.

The truck bombing came hours after the Taliban vowed to keep fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan until all American troops leave the country and stressed that their movement had no role in the Sept. 11 attacks.

(Associated Press)

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