2016 Bagram Airfield bombing | |
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Part of War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | |
Location | Bagram, Parwan Province, Afghanistan |
Coordinates | 34°56′46″N69°15′54″E / 34.946111°N 69.265°E |
Date | 12 November 2016 05:30 am (UTC+04:30) |
Target | Bagram Airfield |
Attack type | Suicide bombing |
Weapons | Explosive belt |
Deaths | 5 (+1 bomber) |
Injured | 18 |
Perpetrators | Taliban |
Motive | American occupation of Afghanistan |
The 2016 Bagram bombing took place on November 12, 2016, when a suicide bomber managed to penetrate the security layer of Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan located about 45 km north of Kabul, detonating his vest near a group of soldiers who were en route to Modern Army Combatives Training. Four U.S. citizens were killed (2 soldiers and 2 contractors, while at least 17 others were injured, including 16 Americans and 1 Polish citizen. One injured soldier died a month later from complications due to injuries sustained in the blast raising the total killed to 5. [1] [2] [3]
According to Abdul Wahid Sediqi, spokesman for the governor of Parwan Province Mohammad Asim Asim, the attacker was employed by a subcontractor of Virginia-based engineering and construction firm Fluor Corporation. [4] He had been constructing the vest over a period of time on the base. [3] After successfully passing through at least one checkpoint, he approached a sidewalk where a group of soldiers were gathering prior to the Veteran's Day running event, detonated his explosive vest around 05:38 local time. [2] Two U.S. soldiers and two U.S. private contractors were killed, in addition to the bomber. Among the 17 injured were 16 U.S. service members and one Polish soldier. [3]
The bombing was the deadliest single incident involving U.S. troops since a December 2015 suicide attack at the same base which killed six troops.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement issued by their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, confirming the sports ground was the intended target, and adding that the attack had been planned for four months. [3] [2]
In response to the bombing, Bagram Airfield was placed under lockdown, while additional security measures were taken at all other locations in Afghanistan for Resolute Support Mission forces. The Embassy of the United States in Kabul was closed for the following day as a precautionary measure. [2]
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The following lists events from 2014 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened in 2013 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in Afghanistan.
The 2015 Kabul Parliament attack occurred on June 22, 2015, when members of the Taliban detonated a car bomb outside the National Assembly in Kabul then attacked the building with assault rifles and RPGs. Two civilians and seven Taliban died in the attack.
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The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Afghanistan.
Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.
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Events from the year 2019 in Afghanistan.
In the early morning of December 11, 2019, the Taliban attacked Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, which at the time was controlled by the United States military. The attackers used two car bombs which killed two civilians and injured 80 others.
Events in the year 2020 in Afghanistan.
On 8 October 2021, an ISIS-K suicide bombing occurred at the Shia Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz. Over 50 people were killed, and another 100 injured, but according to an estimate by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, more than 100 people were killed and wounded.