"The attack also demonstrates the strength of the suicide network the Taliban and al-Qaida have in place," Jones said. "To execute such an attack on such short notice requires a well-developed network of suicide bombers and handlers that can react quickly."

Husain Haqqani, director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University and a former adviser to three Pakistani prime ministers, said the attack "does not reflect well on the Afghan government's ability to maintain security."

The bombing sends the message that the Taliban threat "is greater than the US has considered it," he said.

Karzai's office said 23 people were killed, including 20 Afghan workers waiting outside the base. Twenty other people were injured, it said.

NATO said nine people had been killed, including a US soldier, a US contractor and a South Korean soldier, but Collins said the numbers from Karzai's office were probably "close to the truth."

AP reporters at the scene saw 12 bodies being carried in black body bags and wooden coffins from the entrance of the base - where they were taken after the bombing - and into a market area where hundreds of Afghans, almost all men, had gathered to mourn.

Khan Shirin, a private security guard, sobbed in the back of a pickup truck and kissed the body bag bearing his relative, Parvez, who was a truck driver and the representative of a transport association that hauls goods for the US base.

"How will I tell your mother and father and return your body to your home?" he said, wiping his tears away. "You've left us."

During their private hourlong meeting, Cheney and Karzai spoke about the "problems coming from Pakistan," said an Afghan government official, a reference to cross-border infiltration by militants who launch attacks in Afghanistan.

"We understand now that the US government realizes that in order to stop terrorism in Afghanistan and to stop terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, there must be a clear fight against terrorism in Pakistan," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Karzai's office said Cheney told Afghan leaders the United States "will continue its assistance to Afghanistan."

A senior administration official told reporters on Cheney's airplane that Bush had wanted Cheney to travel to the region because of "the continuing threat that exists in this part of the world."

The official said Karzai was "upbeat" because of a recent pledge of $10.6 billion in aid to Afghanistan by the Bush administration, saying the money - much of it to be spent on new equipment for the Afghan police and army - was a sign of US commitment.

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