US marines killed in attack on NATO base

KABUL) in the restive southern province of Helmand on Saturday, officials said.

Camp Bastion, where mostly British and US troops are stationed, came under attack in the Shorabak area of Greshk district, a commander of the 215th Maiwand Military Corps, Taj Maluk, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The marines resisted and stopped the predawn attack, he said, without having information about casualties.

Two US marines and 16 Taliban attackers were killed as a result of the assault, said the governor’s spokesman, Daud Ahmadi.

A statement from ISAF media office, meanwhile, said nearly 20 insurgents infiltrated the perimeter of Camp Bastion and attacked International Security Assistance Force personnel and facilities using small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and suicide vests.

The attack, which began shortly after 10pm., killed two ISAF service members, wounded several and caused damage to multiple aircraft and structures along the base’s flight line.

“ISAF forces reacted to the assault, returned fire and killed all but one of the known insurgents, defeating the attack. ISAF personnel wounded the remaining insurgent attacker, who is in ISAF custody,” the statement added.

Camp Bastion is currently secure, with troops clearing the base of attackers early in the morning, according to the NATO-led force, which is in the process of assessing damages to aircraft and structures on the airfield.

UK’s Prince Harry, who is serving a four-month combat deployment as a gunner on an Apache helicopter, was at the base at the time of the attack, but was “never in any danger.” Two US marines were killed and five others wounded.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said a group of rebels attacked the military base in revenge for the movie insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Many foreign soldiers were killed and their helicopters and jets destroyed, he claimed.

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