Sep 14, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Excerpted from The BBC: The Taliban have told the BBC that they carried out an attack on Nato’s Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in revenge for a film mocking Islam.
At least two US marines died when militants attacked the perimeter of the huge base in Helmand province.
Aircraft and buildings were damaged and Nato says a clearance operation is under way.
Nato officials say insurgents used small arms, rockets and mortars in the attack on Camp Bastion.
The sprawling camp is home to troops from several countries and Friday’s attack hit the US compound, Camp Leatherneck.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told the BBC that the target was US and UK soldiers.
In a later statement the Taliban said “tens” of fighters had been involved. It said the base was “engulfed in fire and covered in heavy smoke while the operation is still ongoing”.
Nato says a “clearance” operation is under way and it is unclear whether the fighting is over, says the BBC’s Jonathan Beale in Kabul.
Camp Bastion has a high level of security and is one of the world’s busiest airports because of the heavy helicopter and plane traffic.
The UK’s Prince Harry is currently based there, on his second Afghan tour of duty.
Nato told Reuters that the prince was on the base at the time of the attack but was “never in any danger”.
Camp Bastion, our correspondent says, is situated in the middle of the desert with excellent visibility all around. It is extremely heavily fortified and serious questions will be asked about how militants were able to stage this attack.
