A TALIBAN suicide car bomber killed one American soldier and two Afghan civilians near a US military base shortly after the visiting US defence secretary left the site in southern Afghanistan, officials said yesterday.
The attacker targeted a moving vehicle near the access gate to the military side of Kandahar’s airport, according to Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi.
It was unclear whether the blast had anything to do with US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta’s unannounced visit to Kandahar Air Field earlier yesterday.
The base houses more than 20,000 service members from 20 countries and has more than 11,000 civilian contract workers.
Panetta said one American soldier was killed and three others wounded.
Azimi said two Afghan civilians were killed and 14 wounded.