Suicide bombing in Afghanistan kills six US NATO members

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

On Monday, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a motorcycle in Bagram District, Afghanistan. The bombing killed six US NATO service members and injured several others.

According to NATO and Afghan officials, the bombing occurred at 1:30pm local time in a village near Bagram Airfield. Bagram Airfield is located about 40 km (25 mi) north of Kabul, the Afghan capital.

The bombing killed six US NATO soldiers. The US Department of Defense delayed officially releasing their names, following policy, but all the victims have been identified.

One of them is Joseph Lemm, aged 45. Lemm served fifteen years as an officer of the New York City Police Department and has a wife and two children.

Another is Adrianna Vorderbruggen, an openly lesbian US Air Force major. Vorderbruggen advocated repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell and is now married to her same-sex partner. The couple has a son.

The others are Peter Taub from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Michael Anthony Cinco from Rio Grande Valley, Texas, age 28; Chester McBride Jr., Statesboro, Georgia; and Louis Bonacasa, Coram, New York.

The bombing also injured others, including two US military personnel and, according to an Afghan official, three local police officers.

Via email and Twitter, the Taliban, whose regime the US overthrew after invading the country in 2001, claimed responsibility to the bombing.

Currently, about 10,000 US, and less than half as many NATO, military personnel remain in Afghanistan.

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Sister links

2015 Bagram suicide bombing

Sources

Barbara Goldberg. "Identities revealed for all six U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan attack" — Reuters, December 23, 2015
Tim Nudd. "NYPD Detective Is Among 6 Americans Killed in Afghanistan Suicide Bombing: 'We Will Miss Him Very Much'" — People (magazine), December 22, 2015
Sunnivie Brydum. "BREAKING: Lesbian Air Force Major, DADT Repeal Advocate Killed in Action" — The Advocate, December 22, 2015
"Rio Grande Valley Service Member Killed in Afghanistan" — KRGV-TV, December 22, 2015
Andrea Cavallier. "Second airman among 6 killed in Afghanistan bombing identified as Long Island man" — WPIX-TV, December 22, 2015
Masoud Popalzai and Barbara Starr. "6 U.S. troops killed in motorcycle bomb attack in Afghanistan, officials say" — CNN, December 21, 2015
Dan Lamothe and Pamela Constable. "Six U.S. troops dead, others wounded in apparent suicide attack in Afghanistan" — The Washington Post, December 21, 2015
Lynne O'Donnell. "US troops killed near Bagram, Taliban insurgency intensifies" — Associated Press, December 21, 2015

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