Taliban bomber kills 4 Americans at key NATO base

 

Brazen attack by disguised suicide bomber at Bagram airbase north of Kabul also wounds 17 other people.

Bagram airbase has been repeatedly targeted over the years by armed groups [Lucas Jackson/Reuters]

A Taliban suicide bomber dressed as a labourer blew himself up at the NATO airbase at Bagram north of the Afghan capital Kabul,

killing four Americans and wounding at least 17 people.

Two US military service members and two US contractors were killed on Saturday, and 16 other US service members were wounded, along with a Polish soldier who was part of the NATO mission.

"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,'" US defence chief Ashton Carter said in a statement.

The explosion struck at dawn on Saturday inside the heavily fortified Bagram based as the Taliban steps up attacks on Western targets before the onset of winter, when fighting usually ebbs.

Waheed Sediqqi, spokesman for the Parwan provincial governor, said the bomber managed to enter the heavily protected site and was standing in a queue with Afghan labourers when he detonated a suicide vest.

Bagram Airfield, close to Kabul, has frequently come under attack by Taliban fighters.