US shuts down embassy in Kabul after Bagram base blast
The US Embassy in Afghanistan was closed on Sunday after militant attacks on the largest US military base in the country and the German Consulate.
In a statement released late Saturday, the embassy said it will be closed for routine services on Sunday “as a temporary precautionary measure,” AP reported Sunday.
The suicide bomb attack on the Bagram Airfield on Saturday killed two US soldiers and two contractors, also injuring 17 others, one Polish serviceman among them, according to US Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
READ MORE: 2 US soldiers killed, 2 wounded in Kunduz, Afghanistan
“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,” Carter said Saturday.
My thoughts go to the loved ones of those killed at #Bagram Airfield & the wounded. #NATO stands w/ #Afghanistan in the fight against terror
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) November 12, 2016
The attack was carried out by a man wearing a suicide vest early Saturday morning as people were gathering for a post-Veterans Day fun run. The base was put on lockdown following the blast.
Bagram Airfield, the largest US military base in Afghanistan, is located in the Parwan Province. The base is occasionally used by the US Armed Forces and is mainly occupied by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It features several layers of security, including retinal scans. An investigation will be conducted to determine, among other things, how someone with a suicide vest could get in.
The attack on the German Consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif two days earlier resulted in six people being killed, with more than 100 injured.
