Just hours after the U.S. military apologized for dropping leaflets in Afghanistan that offended Muslims, a suicide bomber attacked Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, injuring three American service members and killing one Afghan linguist.
The suicide bombing took place at 5:38 p.m. local time Wednesday, the Guardian reported. The suicide bomber detonated his explosives while driving on a motorcycle and approaching an entry checkpoint to the base.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying that it was in retaliation for dropping the leaflets on Parwan province.
The leaflets showed a lion chasing a white dog bearing a Qur’anic passage that is meant to represent banners used by the Taliban. In the Muslim community, dogs are perceived as unclean and impure, thus very offensive.
“Local people are very upset with this incident, and they want the perpetrators brought to justice,” the deputy governor of Parwan province, Shah Wali Shahid, said, according to Fox News.
Early Wednesday, the United States military apologized for the leaflets, which were supposed to ask Afghan people to report the Taliban to Afghan security forces.
Maj. Gen. James Linder apologized for the leaflets in a statement and said that “the design of the leaflets mistakenly contained an image highly offensive to both Muslims and the religion of Islam.”
“I sincerely apologise. We have the deepest respect for Islam and our Muslim partners worldwide. There is no excuse for this mistake,” Linder added.
Linder said that the party responsible for the leaflets would be held accountable.
