At least 14 others were wounded in the blast, local district governor Haji Shookor told the BBC. The Taliban said one of their suicide bombers had carried out the attack, which reportedly hit a dining area. The attack is being seen as a major security breach in one of the best protected places in Afghanistan.

Bagram, just north of the capital Kabul, has been used as the main military base and airfield by the US-led forces and Nato over the past 14 years.

A local government spokesman was quoted as saying the attacker entered the base early in the morning on foot hidden among a group of workers reporting for duty.

Abdul Wahid Sediqi told AFP: "We don't know the identity of victims yet but the attacker was one of the Afghan labourers working there."


The airbase, hit while people gathered to celebrate Veteran's Day, has several layers of security and checkpoints.


Attacks inside the compound are rare, although several attacks have occurred at the compound's outer gates.


General John W Nicholson, US Army commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement: