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Hope our member Chris is safe over there. (Chris is a civilian contractor in Bagram).
4:57AM BST 19 May 2010
Chris, please drop in if you can - just to let us know you're OK.
Hope our member Chris is safe over there. (Chris is a civilian contractor in Bagram).
4:57AM BST 19 May 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7738841/Afghanistan-Taliban-militants-attack-Bagram-air-base.htmlIn what appears to be a new strategy of increasingly high-profile attacks, small groups of raiders tried to penetrate Bagram, in northern Afghanistan, killing an American contractor and wounding nine soldiers.
The choice of such a symbolic target and its timing — one day after six soldiers were killed in a suicide blast in Kabul — suggest insurgents are trying to strike at the very heart of Nato operations while international troops prepare for an assault on their southern stronghold of Kandahar.
The sprawling base at Bagram is home to thousands of American troops and houses a notorious detention centre making it a key target for insurgents who appear to be picking targets that will generate most headlines. Bagram, known as “the other Guantanamo”, has become a feared symbol of arbitrary detention and alleged torture in Afghanistan.
The militants launched their attack, hurling grenades and firing machine guns. It continued for hours with sporadic rocket and small arms fire.
Ten insurgents were killed, including four who detonated suicide vests, US officers said.
Chris, please drop in if you can - just to let us know you're OK.