Cheney 'not a target' for attack on military base

An explosion outside the main US military base in Afghanistan killed at least two people and wounded 12 during a visit by US Vice President Dick Cheney.

The blast happened near the first security gate outside the base at Bagram, killing two people and wounding 12, said Kabir Ahmad, the district chief of the Bagram region.

Major William Mitchell said it did not appear the explosion was intended as a threat to the vice-president, who was “safely inside the base” during the blast.

Cheney, who spent the night at Bagram, ate breakfast with US soldiers this morning, Mitchell said.

He was expected to meet President Hamid Karzai after their meeting was scrapped yesterday because of bad weather that prevented him travelling to Kabul.

“At this point it does not appear that the explosion was intended as a threat to the vice-president,” Mitchell said. “He wasn’t near the site of the explosion. He was safely within the base at the time of the explosion.”