VP Cheney Unhurt In Explosion
An explosion outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan went off Tuesday as Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting, causing an unknown number of casualties but apparently not putting the vice president in danger, officials said.
The blast happened at the first gate outside the base at Bagram, and there were an unknown number of casualties, said Kabir Ahmad, the district chief of the Bagram region.
Maj. 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.
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BAGRAM, Afghanistan — An explosion outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan killed 19 people and wounded 11 on Tuesday during a visit by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, though the vice president was apparently not in danger, U.S. and Afghan officials said.
The blast happened near the first security gate outside the base at Bagram, killing 19 people, said Khoja Mohammad Qasim Sayedi, chief of the province's public health department. Gov. Abdul Jabar Taqwa said "18 to 20 dead bodies" lay on the ground after the blast.
