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US deputy 'fine' after blast
27/02/2007 08:53 - (SA)
Kabul - An explosion outside the main US military base in Afghanistan killed at least two people and wounded 12 on Tuesday during a visit by US vice-president Dick Cheney, though the vice president was apparently not in danger, officials said.
The blast happened near the first security gate outside the base at Bagram, killing two people and wounding 12, said Kabir Ahmad, the district chief of the Bagram region.
Major William Mitchell said it did not appear the explosion was intended as a threat to the vice president, who was "safely inside the base" during the blast.
Mitchell said it appeared there were casualties from the blast, but he didn't immediately know how many.
Cheney, who spent the night at Bagram, ate breakfast with US soldiers on Tuesday morning, Mitchell said. He was expected to later meet with President Hamid Karzai after their meeting was scrapped on Monday because of bad weather that prevented him traveling to Kabul.
"At this point it does not appear that the explosion was intended as a threat to the vice-president," Mitchell said. "He wasn't near the site of the explosion. He was safely within the base at the time of the explosion."
- AP
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