REPORTING FROM KABUL , AFGHANISTAN -- An Afghan interpreter who breached the security perimeter at a southern Afghanistan airbase Wednesday tried to run over a squad of U.S. Marines assembled to meet Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta 's plane, an American military official said.The man, who worked for Western troops but has not been named, died early Thursday because of extensive burns, Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told reporters.After the incident, U.S. officials initially said it wasn't clear whether it was a premeditated attack.PHOTOS: Afghanistan shootingBut Scaparrotti said Thursday he believed that the interpreter, who died before he could be questioned, was carrying out an attack when he stole a pickup, drove onto the runway ramp as Panetta's plane was landing, and emerged from his vehicle in flames.The incident is the latest attempt to attack Americans by Afghans in the military or working for the coalition since the accidental burning of Korans last month by U.S. soldiers."My personal opinion is yes, I think he had an intent to harm. I think he tried to hit people" Scaparrotti said at a press conference with reporters traveling with Panetta. The Defense secretary met Thursday with President Hamid Karzai in the capital.He added that there was no evidence that the attack was aimed at Panetta's plane. But the timing of the incident suggested that the attacker may have intended to target the plane's arrival at the airbase, whether or not he knew Panetta was aboard.The driver was carrying a canister containing some kind of fuel that he appears to have ignited after the car ran into a ditch following his attempt to run over the Marines, Scaparrotti said."There was some kind of container. It may have had fuel in it in the car," he said.He stole the truck on the base, injuring a British soldier in the process.Aides to Panetta withheld public news about the incident for nine hours Wednesday and insisted Panetta was never in danger.ALSO:U.S., Britain say no early exit from AfghanistanAfghanistan mourns 16 apparently killed by U.S. soldierU.S. soldier accused of massacre transferred out of Afghanistan--David S. Cloud 

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 KABUL—The attack at the military runway in Afghanistan where Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was landing Wednesday was more serious than the Pentagon first acknowledged, based on new disclosures from military officials Thursday. 
 
 An Afghan man driving a stolen vehicle attempted to crash it into a group of Marines, including their senior commander, who were awaiting the arrival of Mr. Panetta on Wednesday, officials said. Maj Gen Mark Gurganus, the commander of international forces in Helmand province, was forced to scramble as the vehicle careened toward the Marines, according to a defense official. The presence of Gen. Gurganus means the attack ...
– The Afghan man who drove onto the runway of a US base where Leon Panetta's plane was landing and then crashed into a ditch has died. The man emerged from the vehicle after the crash engulfed it in flames and was doused by security personnel, then treated at a military medical facility, but he died this morning of burn injuries, the Wall Street Journal reports. He was carrying a canister with fuel that apparently ignited after the crash, the Los Angeles Times notes. "We don't know his intent, we don't know what triggered this," says a US Army lieutenant general, adding that he does not think the man was targeting Panetta. He does, however, believe the man "had an attempt to harm," he says. "I think, frankly, he tried to hit the people on the ramp." The man was a contract interpreter for the military, and military officials say he was aiming for the group of US Marines who were on the runway to meet Panetta, but missed them before driving into the ditch. Before he made it onto the runway, the man injured a British soldier while attempting to run him over with the stolen truck. The man died before officials could question him.