KABUL — US defense secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday he had “no reason to believe” an attempted attack on an Afghan base as his plane was about to land was directed at him.
“I have absolutely no reason to believe that this was directed at me,” Panetta told a news conference. He added, “This is a war area,” and “we’re going to get these kind of incidents,” AFP quoted him as saying.
An Afghan man, who died Thursday of burns, stole a truck Wednesday and drove it toward the runway at Camp Bastion in Helmand as Panetta’s plane was due to land.
US military officials said the man intended to drive the truck into a group of Marines who gathered to greet Panetta and that the attacker would not have been able to identify the defense secretary’s aircraft.
The vehicle missed the Marines and crashed into a ditch.