A Taliban suicide bomber failed in his attempt to assassinate visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in Afghanistan after bad weather forced him to stay back in a military base after he concluded discussions on the threat of al Qaeda and the Taliban. Apparently, the bomber blew himself up at 10 am as Cheney was preparing to fly to Kabul to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai and discuss ways by which the coalition could stop a resurgent Taliban to operate in spring. A spokesperson for Cheney asserted that he is "fine."

There was confusion on the number dead but early reports said that one U.S. soldier was dead although an Afghan interior ministry spokesperson said that 18 people had died including three foreign soldiers. A coalition spokesperson said that one U.S. soldier and two Afghan soldiers had died in the attack in which the bomber successfully got through a gate manned by Afghan soldiers but blew himself at a gate manned by U.S. troops.

Cheney disregarded the attack and flew to Kabul and met Karzai to discuss security and increased aid for Kabul. Coming to Kabul from Islamabad, Cheney had delivered a stern warning to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that financial aid may be cut if results were not seen on ground.