US Defence Secretary may have been suicide bomber's target
A suspected suicide bomber at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, may have been attempting a reprisal attack against the US Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, it has emerged. At the same time that Mr Panetta's plane was landing at the military base in Helmand Province for a surprise visit to troops, a truck broke through the security cordon and drove onto the runway. The vehicle was diverted and crashed into a ditch bursting into flames. The driver, who was badly burned in the accident, has since died.
Reprisals against US soldiers have been anticipated following the massacre of innocent villagers last week and the previous burning of copies of the Koran by American military personnel.