An Afghan official says the suicide bomber who killed four Americans inside the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan was a former Taliban member working there.

The attacker was identified as Qari Enayatullah, a resident of Laghmani village of Bagram district, district governor Haji Abdul Shukur Quddusi said on November 13.

He said Enayatullah had joined the reconciliation process in 2008.

Quddusi said he was not aware of what job he did at Bagram or how long he had been there.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the November 12 attack on the Bagram airfield, just north of Kabul.

The Pentagon said two U.S. service members and two American contractors were killed.

Sixteen U.S. service members and one Polish soldier were also injured.

In the wake of the attack, and another on the German consulate in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif two days earlier, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul closed its doors on November 13 as a "temporary precautionary measure."

Based on reporting by dpa and the BBC