WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way for a veteran wounded by a suicide bomb in Afghanistan to sue the government contractor for whom the attacker was working when he built the explosive. The court ruled 6-3 in favor of former Army Spc. Winston Hencely, who was injured in a 2016 attack at Bagram Airfield.

Hencely was wounded when he stopped a man on his way to detonate an explosive vest at a Veterans Day weekend 5K race at the base. The attacker, Ahmad Nayeb, blew himself up when he was confronted, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen.

The projectiles fractured Hencely's skull and tore through his brain, leaving him without the full use of much of the left side of his body. He has abnormal brainwaves, seizures and traumatic brain injury.

An Army investigation faulted Fluor Intercontinental for failing to supervise Nayeb, an Afghan employee who built the vest on the job site inside the base. Hencely moved to sue the company under state law. Fluor Intercontinental argued that it could not be sued because it was working for the government, which is generally immune to lawsuits.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justices Samuel Alito, John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. Alito wrote that Hencely's lawsuit may intrude on the government's wartime powers and decisions, including a policy requiring contractors to maximize employment of Afghans.