Afghanistan runway blaze driver dies

An Afghan man who crashed a stolen vehicle on to the runway at Camp Bastion as US defence secretary Leon Panetta arrived there has died of his injuries.

Lt Gen Curtis Scaparotti, the deputy commander of American forces in Afghanistan, said the man died this morning of severe burns.

He said the driver apparently had a container of fuel in the vehicle, which ignited during yesterday’s crash at the British airfield in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

Lt Gen Scaparotti said the driver had been heading towards a group of marines.

The driver travelled at high speed and crashed into a ditch near the ramp where Mr Panetta's plane was going to park. No one in the defence secretary's party was hurt.

The drama at Camp Bastion is believed to be linked to an earlier incident, which left a British serviceman with minor injuries.

Mr Panetta arrived at the base to meet troops, commanders and Afghan government officials, just days after a US soldier went on a deadly shooting spree in Kandahar.

The base is home to a large contingent of US troops as well as UK forces.

In a statement yesterday, Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said: “The alleged perpetrator was apprehended by base security personnel. We are currently investigating to determine more facts.

“At no point was the secretary or anyone on the aircraft in any danger from this incident.”

Camp Bastion was put under “lockdown” in the aftermath of the incident, with flights and movements in and out restricted while it was investigated.

At the weekend 16 Afghan civilians, including several children, were shot dead by a US soldier.

The suspect accused of carrying out the rampage has now been flown to Kuwait, it has emerged.

Last month there was anger after US troops burned Korans on an American base.

Mr Panetta’s two-day visit was scheduled to include meetings with President Hamid Karzai, Afghan defence officials and provincial leaders, as well as routine discussions with his commanders on the ground.

Mr Panetta yesterday told 200 marines and Afghan soldiers at Camp Leatherneck, the US base adjoining Camp Bastion, that recent violence did “not define the relationship between the coalition and the Afghan forces and the Afghan people”.

“This is probably the broadest and the deepest international military coalition that we’ve seen in a long, long time,” he said.

“This was the Taliban’s stronghold. And because of your work, because of your dedication, because of the tremendous sacrifice you’re making, the reality is that we are achieving greater stability and greater security in this area.”

He said Afghan forces were doing an “outstanding job” and leading more operations, and recent violence was not the measure of the relationship between them and coalition forces.

“As tragic as these events of violence have been, they do not define the relationship between the coalition and the Afghan forces and the Afghan people.

“What you are doing out here every day determines that relationship.”

He said the resolve of coalition forces would not be undermined, adding: “We will be challenged.

“We will be challenged by our enemy. We will be challenged by ourselves. We will be challenged by the hell of war itself.

“But none of that must ever deter us from the mission that we must achieve. That mission is the dream that I talk about. The dream of making sure that we can provide our children – that we can provide children of Afghans – a better life for the future.”

He went on to visit a nearby combat outpost and Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, where he was scheduled to meet president Hamid Karzai and other senior leaders.