The US military on Monday blamed the militant Haqqani network for a massive truck bombing attack against a NATO base in central Afghanistan that wounded more than 100.
Saturday’s bombing killed two people, injured 77 US troops and about 25 Afghan nationals, US officers said.
“We believe the perpetrators of the attack were from the Haqqani network,” Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters. “There’s a very strong likelihood that top Haqqani leadership supported and were aware of the attack,” Little added.
The network is closely allied to the Taliban and was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both of them already designated “global terrorists” by Washington.
The bombing reflected an organisation with substantial resources and the ability to plan a serious attack, spokesman Captain John Kirby said. “This was a large, large vehicle, with a large amount of explosives material. And you don’t conduct that kind of attack without good resourcing, good planning and a fair level of coordination,” Kirby said.
A spate of casualties made August the deadliest month yet for US forces in the war, and Kirby said fighting insurgents in central and eastern Afghanistan continued to be “tough”.
