Explosion near Afganistan base kills at least 19, U.S. Vice President may have been target
{{date|February 27, 2007}}

[[Image:Richard Cheney 2005 official portrait.jpg|right|thumb|150px|U.S. Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] was not harmed during the suicide bomber's attack.]]

A suicide attack at {{w|Bagram Air Base}}, [[Afghanistan]] at 10:30 a.m. Afghan time has left at least 19 dead reports the Associated Press.  President [[Hamid Karzai]]'s office said 23 people were killed and 20 were injured. Agence France-Presse has reported that at least one [[United States|U.S.]] soldier was killed in the attack. A South Korean soldier was among those killed said [[South Korea]]'s defence ministry. 

{{w|Qari Yousef Ahmadi}}, who claims to be a [[Afghan Taliban|Taliban]] spokesman, said that [[Dick Cheney]] was the target of the attack. Cheney made a surprise visit to the base. He ate breakfast with Major General David Rodriguez, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and troops.  Cheney had been in his room before the explosion occurred. He was quickly escorted to a nearby bomb shelter, where he remained, unharmed, until the situation settled.

Cheney told reporters traveling with him, when informed of who claimed responsibility for the attack, "I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government," he said according to Donna Miles of the {{w|American Forces Press Service}}. "Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that. But it shouldn't affect our behavior at all."

{{haveyoursay}}
==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFw57zOk2emc&refer=home
|title=Cheney Safe After Attack on Air Base in Afghanistan
|author=Brendan Murray
|pub=Bloomberg
|date=February 27, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/38956FF4-704F-4AD5-BCD0-85C5A1C0F844.htm
|title=Cheney targeted in Taliban attack
|author=
|pub=Al Jazeera 
|date=February 27, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/world/asia/27cnd-cheney.html?ref=world
|title=Cheney Unhurt After Bombing in Afghanistan
|author=Abdul Waheed Wafa
|pub=New York Times
|date=February 27, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/NEWS07/70227022/1048/SPORTS
|title=Taliban: Cheney was suicide bomber’s target
|author=Alisa Tang (AP)
|pub=Detroit Free Press
|date=February 27, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6443870,00.html
|title=Cheney OK After Afghan Blast; 14 Killed
|author=Alisa Tang (AP)
|pub=The Guardian
|date=February 27, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/27/cheney.afghanistan.ap/index.html
|title=Cheney unhurt in blast outside Afghan base
|pub=CNN
|author=The Associated Press
|date=February 27, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USSP12042320070227|title=Cheney takes refuge in bomb shelter after Afghan blast|author=Caren Bohan|pub=Reuters|date=February 27, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123042615 
|title=Suicide bomber attacks Bagram Air Base during Cheney visit
|author=Donna Miles
|pub=American Forces Press Service
|date= February 27, 2007}}

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[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Dick Cheney]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Asia]]
[[Category:Suicide attacks]]
[[Category:Qari Yousef Ahmadi]]

[[de:Explosion bei Truppenbesuch von US-Vizepräsident]]
[[it:Afghanistan: fallito un attentato contro Dick Cheney]]
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was not harmed during the suicide bomber's attack.

A suicide attack at , Afghanistan at 10:30 a.m. Afghan time has left at least 19 dead reports the Associated Press.  President Hamid Karzai's office said 23 people were killed and 20 were injured. Agence France-Presse has reported that at least one U.S. soldier was killed in the attack. A South Korean soldier was among those killed said South Korea's defence ministry. 

, who claims to be a Taliban spokesman, said that Dick Cheney was the target of the attack. Cheney made a surprise visit to the base. He ate breakfast with Major General David Rodriguez, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and troops.  Cheney had been in his room before the explosion occurred. He was quickly escorted to a nearby bomb shelter, where he remained, unharmed, until the situation settled.

Cheney told reporters traveling with him, when informed of who claimed responsibility for the attack, "I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government," he said according to Donna Miles of the . "Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that. But it shouldn't affect our behavior at all."

de:Explosion bei Truppenbesuch von US-Vizepräsident
it:Afghanistan: fallito un attentato contro Dick Cheney
United States Afghanistan Dick Cheney Politics and conflicts North America Asia Suicide attacks Qari Yousef Ahmadi