Panetta's press secretary George Little confirmed the suicide car bombing occurred, adding that coalition officials were assessing the situation. "I have no information at this time that this incident was associated with the visit of the secretary of defense. The attack occurred after the secretary returned to Kabul," he said.
A U.S. official said early indications were that the attacker did not breach the base's perimeter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter was in the early stages of investigation.
Earlier, Ahmad Javed Faisal, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said the attack occurred after dusk and was carried out by a bomber on a motorcycle. There often are conflicting reports in the immediate aftermath of attacks.
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Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Amir Shah contributed to this report from Kabul.
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