![Afghan troops November 12 arrive in the streets around the Bagram military base 50km north of Kabul after a suicide bombing that day. Four people were killed in an explosion at the base, NATO said, with local officials blaming a suicide attacker posing as a labourer. [SHAH MARAI/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2016/11/25/6640-bagram-739_416.webp)
KABUL -- Afghan security officials are denouncing the November 12 suicide bombing that claimed at least four lives at the Bagram air base near Kabul.
A deadly attack arouses denunciation
The bomber, wearing a suicide vest, killed two US troops and two US contractors, according to reports. He was a former Talib who took a job at the base after renouncing insurgency in 2008, the BBC reported. How long he had worked at Bagram was not immediately known.
Reaction from Afghan officials was swift and unanimous.
President Ashraf Ghani denounced the bombing in a statement sent to Salaam Times by his press office, calling it a "cowardly" act by terrorists who "have no regard for Islam, human life or the future of Afghanistan".
He reiterated his resolve to "destroy the enemies" of Afghanistan and its allies.
"The international community is here to help with the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces [ANDSF]," Eng. Muhammad Khan, first deputy to Afghan government CEO Abdullah Abdullah, told Salaam Times.
Denouncing the attack, he praised US forces who train and advise ANDSF personnel and were targeted in the attack.
Insurgents do not want international forces to help the country or to "make our security forces more capable", he said.
"For the past 15 years, the international forces, especially the US forces training the Afghan army, have sacrificed here to build a strong military," he emphasised.
Other Afghan officials had similar sentiments.
The government gives its condolences to the bereaved families, Gen. Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, told Salaam Times, adding that NATO and US forces remain committed to their training and support mission.
"We all stand united in the fight against terrorism," Waziri said.
US forces aid the Afghan army and serve peace, member of parliament Qadir Zadran told Salaam Times. "They are training the ANDSF and helping them, providing new and modern weapons," he said.
Ordinary Afghans speak out
Ordinary Afghans, like their leaders, were saddened and outraged.
"We learned a lot in the past three years ... from coalition forces," Afghan National Army (ANA) officer Qurban Ali told Salaam Times.
After US military personnel trained him, he became capable of training Afghan recruits himself, he said.
"The US forces here work hard with Afghan security forces to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan," he said, adding that news of the bombing "deeply saddened" him.
Insurgents are trying to kill those who help the country, Mahmood Marhon, a university instructor in Kabul, told Salaam Times.
"They were training and advising Afghan troops to help secure Afghanistan's future," he said of the four dead.
"In the past few years, Afghan security forces have done their best to defend the country," he said. "All the achievements came with the help of US forces."
