The scale of the attack and the extent of the U.S. casualties contrast with the official description presented on the day of the assault. In a clipped, one-paragraph news release June 1, the military said U.S. and Afghan forces "successfully repelled the attack and secured the base." The statement did not report any casualties or that there was a truck bomb.
"It was a very huge explosion," said Daoud Khan Makeen, head of the provincial council in Khost. He said that houses as far as two miles away were damaged in the blast and that 20 Afghans were wounded, many of them by collapsed buildings.
- Washington Post
2 bombs kill 33 in NW Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Two bombs killed 33 people in tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials and witnesses said, a reminder of the instability wracking the nuclear-armed country.
The first blast, a car bomb, hit a crowded bazaar in the town of Landi Kotal in the Khyber region near the Afghan border, government administrator Khalid Mumtaz said. It killed 26 people and wounded more than 50. Shops and vehicles were badly damaged in the morning attack.
Later in the nearby district of Kohat, a bomb hidden in a handcart killed seven people, among them police officers, said police officer Naeem Khan. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, but suspicion fell on Pakistani Taliban insurgents.
- AP
Greece arrests 4 in accidental fire
ATHENS, Greece - Greek police arrested four people Saturday for accidentally causing a fire raging south of Athens and threatening houses. Three firefighters have been injured, one with extensive burns, but no civilian casualties have been reported.
Police say the four were doing a welding job at a construction site when a spark hit dry grass and ignited a fire. Strong winds quickly spread the fire, which was raging 30 miles south of Athens, burning several houses in the process.
At dusk, the 12 airplanes and two helicopters operating in the area had to be withdrawn and the fire was being fought on the ground, with 115 vehicles and more than 300 firefighters taking part. A home for the elderly was evacuated and its 42 residents moved to a nearby resort, authorities said.
- AP
