A Taliban suicide bomber penetrated Bagram Air Base, one of the most secure facilities in Afghanistan, and killed four people and wounded 17 more. The base has been the focus of high-profile Taliban and jihadist attacks in the past.
Resolute Support, NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, confirmed the attack in a statement released earlier today. The NATO command did not say how the Taliban suicide bomber was able to breach security at Bagram. However, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said two American soldiers and two contractors were killed in the attack.
“An explosive device was detonated on Bagram Airfield today resulting in multiple casualties. Four people have died in the attack and approximately 14 were wounded,” according to the press release. On Twitter, Resolute Support later updated the number of wounded to 17.
The nationalities of those killed was not disclosed. The US and other NATO countries have forces deployed at Bagram Air Base, which is located in the central province of Parwan.
Accounts differ on who exactly was targeted inside Bagram. In a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban’s official propaganda website, the group said the suicide bomber targeted American personnel “while they were busy in taking exercise.”
According to Bagram’s district governor, “a suicide bomber entered the airbase and then detonated his suicide vest among the workers, who were getting ready to start work,” TOLONews reported.
The Taliban claimed that the attack “took four months” to plan and execute. According to the Taliban, “martyrdom seeker Mujahid – Hafiz Muhammad Parwani – had already managed to enter the airfield very tactically along with necessary toll and explosives.”
Additionally, the Taliban also claimed that “23 American soldiers including key officers have been killed and 44 others wounded as well as several internal puppets [Afghan security personnel] have been killed and wounded.” The group routinely exaggerates the number of people killed or wounded in its operations.
The Taliban has provided some clues about the organization of its so-called martyrdom units that has conducted operations such as today’s. It has identified two key leaders of its “Suicide Groups.” Mullah Taj Mir Jawad has been described as the head of a “martyrdom-seekers battalion,” while Qari Abdul Raouf Zakir, is the “commander” of the Taliban’s suicide groups. Qari Zakir, who was designated as a terrorist by the State Department in Nov. 2012, has long commanded the Haqqani Network’s suicide operations.
The Taliban and their powerful sub-group, the Haqqani Network, as well as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and al Qaeda, are all known to operate in Parwan province. These groups and others coordinate operations as part of what the US military used to call the Kabul Attack Network.
These jihadist groups have conducted multiple high profile attacks at Bagram over the past decade. Bagram is a high priority target for the Taliban. The base is the largest in Afghanistan, and the Obama administration has planned on keeping an estimated 5,500 troops split up between bases at Bagram, Jalalabad, Kabul, and Kandahar thru 2017.
In one of the more significant attacks, the Taliban – in conjunction with al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan – launched a complex suicide assault on the airbase in May 2010. Bekkay Harrach, a senior al Qaeda leader from Germany, was among those killed during the assault.
Other recent high-profile attacks in Parwan province include the Dec. 2015 suicide bombing that killed six NATO troops as their convoy patrolled just outside of Bagram Air Base, and the July 2014 suicide bombing that killed four Czech soldiers.
Large NATO facilities in Afghanistan have been targeted by the Taliban in the past. Bases in Nangarhar, Kabul, and Helmand have been hit by high-profile Taliban attacks. In one of the most successful Taliban attacks, a suicide assault team penetrated security at Camp Bastion in Helmand province in 2012. During the attack, the Taliban killed two US Marines and destroyed 6 Harrier strike aircraft and damages two more.
6 Comments
rip! bet this guy just walked in like a regular joe!
There was nothing tactical about it. “Parwani,” simply paid one or more of his pashtu cousins to look the other way, get him an ANA uniform, and allow him to walk into the base. I’d bet dollars to donuts that, or something very similar is exactly what happened.
Rest in peace brave warriors. Taliban have been doing this for years. Green-on-blue was MMO’s favorite MO. Bloody savages. Even their mothers hate them. This cat was cleared to work the base as a “reformed” Taliban hahaha. Once a suicidal maniac, always a suicidal maniac, I always say.
Why are we trying to force Ghani to surrender to the savages when he wants to fight? Shame on you Hanoi John. Just let the Obummer clock tick and don’t do any more harm to the good, strong fighters of the world.
http://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-president-wants-un-add-taliban-chief-terrorist-list/3595727.html
A friend is there, he informed me that the suicide bomber worked there for 8 years. Imagine that won’t make it into the media. They were told that he approached a group of early a.m. runners. The comments about being in a line with workers is not clear, that could also be true. I read your materials with interest, Bill.
Exactly. Nothing tactical about putting explosives under a bogus uniform and getting in. This highlights two massive issues that the US has seemingly just ignored. Perimeter and internal layers of security, and Afghan defense and security uniforms and IDs. You can buy those ANA and police uniforms anywhere, in almost any market across the country, and the patches too, to make a convincing-looking uniform:
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/09/afghan_nds_continues_crackdown.php
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23358411
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/world/asia/24afghanistan.html
When you have a country as corrupt as Afghanistan, and there’s very little oversight and security in terms of uniform inventory, this happens all the time and it isn’t surprising. I think the Afghans themselves sew the patches and boots, but the uniform jackets and pants are provided by a Canadian company, “HyperStealth.” They sell camo patterns to a few dozen countries. After the first few insider attacks, we should’ve conditioned our aid relating to uniforms to prevent things like that. But we still haven’t learned.
http://www.hyperstealth.com/camouflagepatterns.html
What are the chances that the Americans had no idea of this guys past history with the Taliban. Would it not be considered, given the deep tribal affiliations, blood ties across disparate combative groups and the long history of treachery and deception in military matters which you made a comment of recently and I agree with (you had mentioned deception. I am adding treachery), would it not be irresponsible to even have this man on base if his past was Known?
Afghan treachery is but a manifestation of Afghan patriotism. There is always is something heroic seen in the stab in the back by the people with the view from the back. This place is complex and I don’t think we are the ones for the job here. We can’t turn our backs on anyone, trust anyone. We can’t even train the friendlies without pointing guns at them and insulting them.
The government want to bring Hekmatyar in from the cold to get burned by that beast again.
But Dostum can be trusted….oh, wait, strike that.
In regards to the Kabul retreat we both spoke about. You are right in that only Dr Brydon made it to Jalalabad in one bound (and only did so I might add by Bounding ahead and abandoning the main column). I was speaking only of actual survival of which there were perhaps hundreds including the wife of General Sale.
Who can forget Brydon’s words when asked by General Sale “where is the army?’ his reply of “Sir, I am the Army”.