Afghanistan: Car Bomb Explodes as US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Lands for Visit to Camp Bastion
The visit was unannounced, so the explosion may likely be coincidental …
Update: Apparently not. “A military source tells Fox News the strange incident on the tarmac Wednesday at Camp Bastion that occurred moments before Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived via C-17 was an attempted attack.” Read more.
“A suspected car bomb attack has taken place at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, Sky Sources have revealed.
The explosion came as US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta flew into Camp Bastion. It is believed that Mr Panetta was still landing or had landed at the time of the alleged attack, but it is not clear if he was a target.
Sky’s Stuart Ramsay said the explosion was caused when a vehicle drove on to the runway either during or after the landing.
Sky Sources have been told the explosion was caused by the driver of the vehicle. An investigation has now been launched into the driver’s identity.
The driver, who appears to have survived the attack, has been taken into custody and is being treated for burns.It was not clear whether Mr Panetta was a specific target or not. Sky Sources said the explosion did appear to be an “attack of some description”.
The base was put on immediate lockdown after the explosion this morning – but Mr Panetta is understood to be in Kabul this afternoon and in talks with the government.
The attack comes just days after a lone US soldier went on a rampage and murdered 16 Afghan civilians.
Tensions between the US and Afghanistan are running high in the wake of the shootings.
Extra security measures in place for Mr Panetta’s visit showed how nerves were on edge.
He landed at Camp Bastion so that he could visit troops at the US Camp Leatherneck, part of the same complex.” Read more.
US Defense Secretary visit to Afghanistan was unannounced – “Defence Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced visit on Wednesday, as the United States tried to contain fallout from a massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by an American soldier. A motorcycle bomb went off in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, killing an Afghan intelligence soldier and wounding two, as well as a civilian, while a roadside bomb killed 8 civilians in neighboring Helmand province, officials said, as Panetta kicked off a two-day trip by visiting troops. Panetta told them the weekend killings by what U.S. and Afghan officials have said was a lone rogue soldier would not undermine relations with Afghanistan.” Read more.




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