A suicide car bomber killed at least nine people in an attack on a military airport in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said, the latest incident of violence and protests since copies of the Quran were burned at a NATO base last week.
There was no official indication the explosion at the gates of Jalalabad airport was linked to other deadly protests and riots, although the Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack as “revenge” for the Quran burning.
Anti-Western fury has deepened significantly since the desecration of the Muslim holy book at the main NATO base in Afghanistan.
Twelve people were wounded by the suicide bomb at the airport and casualties appeared to be civilians and Afghan soldiers who were guarding the gate, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is capital, said the explosion did no damage inside the military airport, which is used by ISAF troops.
