By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

Ten private security guards employed at the U.S.’s biggest military base in the country, Bagram Airfield, were killed and two others were injured when gunmen ambushed them in northern Parwan province early Tuesday, according to police.

Provincial police chief Mohammad Zamand Mamozay told Anadolu Agency the incident took place at around 1 a.m. (2030 GMT) in Bagram district’s Shakay area when armed assailants opened fire on a car carrying the guards going towards the base.

“We are investigating the incident; armed rebels targeted a ‘saracha’ [a local term that refers to a car with large cargo space used commonly for public transport in Afghanistan] and killed 10 people on the spot; two more people got wounded in this attack,” Mamozay said.

District Governor Abdul Shakoor Qudosi said the victims served as private security guards at the U.S. base.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement on their website, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the victims were not civilians but “spies for the American forces”.

The latest attack came exactly a year after 15 Nepali and Afghan guards of the Canadian embassy were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul on June 20, 2016.

Separately, the Ministry of Defense said Afghan military carried out joint operations in 13 provinces that left 39 suspected insurgents dead and 17 others wounded in the past 24 hours; three suspects were also detained.