Jihadi work accident: Taliban suicide bomber detonates prematurely, killing 2 Afghans in an attack on NATO base where Korans were burned

Afghan policemen investigate at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Nangarhar province, March 5, 2012. A member of the Afghan security forces was killed and 11 wounded including eight civilians by a suicide bomber in the eastern Nangarhar province on Monday, the interior ministry said in a statement. (Reuters Pictures)

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least two civilians Monday after detonating explosives at the gates of the NATO base where copies of the Koran were burned, Afghan officials said.

The bomber targeted a vehicle belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said district governor Kabir Ahmad Rahil, adding there could be foreign casualties, although a NATO spokeswoman said no coalition troops had been harmed in the attack on Bagram airfield.

Four more civilians were wounded in the attack, Rahil said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was "revenge" for the Koran burning, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a text message to media. He added that "a number of Americans" were killed and their tanks destroyed in the attack, although the Islamist group often exaggerate casualties.

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