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Apr 24th, 2010


Suicide Bomber Infiltrated U.S. Base


Security forces secure the site of a suicide bomb attack at the main gate of a NATO military airport in Kabul on September 8, 2009. (Photo credit: Massoud Hossaini / AFP — Getty Images)

Reuters and the Associated Press via MSNBC.com
April 24, 2010

KABUL — An explosion that killed an American and an Afghan soldier on a military base in Kabul this week was carried out by a suicide bomber, the U.S. military has confirmed, the second time in five months an insurgent has managed to infiltrate a base.

On Monday, NATO said one of its service members had died and several had been wounded in an explosion on an Afghan army base in the capital but gave no details. One Afghan soldier was also killed in the blast and three were wounded.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the attack was carried out by a Taliban infiltrator, who struck while foreign advisers were training Afghan troops.

The U.S. Defense Department has now confirmed it was a suicide attack.

“Sergeant Robert J. Barrett, 20, of Fall River, Massachusetts, died April 19 in Kabul, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when a suicide bomber attacked his unit,” the department said in a statement.

Barrett’s father, Paul Barrett, told The Standard-Times newspaper in Massachusetts that the attacker stole an Afghan uniform and infiltrated a group of Afghans his son and eight other U.S. soldiers were training to be police officers.

The younger Barrett was the father of a 2-year-old daughter named Sophie Alexandra, the Fall River Herald-News reported Friday. He also served at the inauguration of President Barack Obama as a member of the Massachusetts National Honor Guard’s volunteer regiment.

NATO efforts to train Afghan forces have been plagued in recent months by rogue Afghan soldiers and police turning weapons on their trainers, and infiltrators gaining access to compounds meant to be secure.

The latest attack is the second in recent months in which an insurgent has managed to penetrate a military base and kill foreigners.

In December, a Jordanian infiltrator at a U.S. base killed seven employees or contractors working for the CIA and a Jordanian intelligence officer [link added]. In November, an Afghan police trainee killed five British soldiers at a checkpoint. …

Last year was the deadliest for foreign forces in Afghanistan since the Taliban were overthrown in late 2001. A total of 520 troops, more than 300 of them American, died in 2009, according to icasualties.org, an independent website that monitors foreign troop deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. …

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Related report

Fallen soldier’s dad says son was killed by suicide bomber


Army Sgt. Robert J. Barrett

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Afghan Policeman Kills U.S. Troops (Dec. 1, 2010)

Afghan Soldier Kills U.S. Troop (Dec. 29, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 24, 2009

Second Day of Bloodshed in Baghdad

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that back-to-back suicide bombings killed 60 people outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad, a day after the country was rocked by its most deadly violence in more than a year. The bombings, in which nearly 80 people were killed, were the latest in a series of high-profile attacks blamed on Sunni insurgents. Meanwhile, a new review of available evidence compiled by The Associated Press indicated that more than 110,600 Iraqis had died in violence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.





One Response to “Security Breached at U.S. Base”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » The Pope’s Easter Message 2011 Says:

    […] Security Breached at U.S. Base in Afghanistan […]

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