A suicide bomber killed as many as 18 people outside the main US base in Afghanistan on Tuesday. The attack came during a visit to Afghanistan by US Vice President Dick Cheney, who stayed at the base on Monday night. He was not hurt, according to his spokeswoman."The suicide bombing took place at gate two where Afghan labourers were waiting," the Afghan Islamic Press quoted a provincial police officer as saying. "Initial reports are stating that 18 people were killed and three of them are foreign soldiers," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP. "The 15 others are civilian Afghan workers who wanted to enter Bagram air base for their work. On injuries we do not have exact reports."
However Afghan Islamic Press, a Pakistan-based news agency, quoted provincial governor Abdul Jabbar Taqwa as saying 20 people had been killed in the blast outside the Bagram air base, 60 kilometres north of Kabul. Bagram district governor Kabir Ahmad said all the dead and injured where Afghans.
Cheney stayed at the base overnight after planned talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai were delayed by weather. "The vice-president is fine," spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said.
An official at the base confirmed the blast, but had no details.
Earlier, an Afghan official told Afghan Islamic Press the explosion occurred inside a shipping container, but gave no more details. Some containers are used as shops in the market lining the road to the base. Others are carried on trucks to bring supplies into the base.
A Reuters correspondent travelling with the US delegation said they were not aware of the blast until they heard sirens and were told by a military spokesman that the base was "under attack". "We were told there was a 'red alert'," Caren Bohan said. "There was a commotion, but it ended pretty quickly. We didn't hear any bomb or anything like that from where we were."