Bagram, June 16: Insurgents fired nine rockets at three US bases in Afghanistan over the weekend, but no casualties were reported in any of the incidents, the US military said today. Four rockets fell early yesterday near a US base in Deh Rawood in central Uruzgan Province, US military spokesman Col. Rodney Davis told reporters at Bagram Air Base, the headquarters of coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Later yesterday, another rocket landed near another US base in Asadabad, in eastern Kunar Province. Davis said three rockets were also fired Saturday at Asadabad.
Also on Saturday, one rocket exploded near a third US base in Orgun, in the southeastern province of Paktika. It was not clear who was behind the attacks, but the insurgents are believed to be a mix of holdouts from the former Taliban regime, fugitive members of the al-Qaida terrorist network and loyalists of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former Prime Minister.
Davis said last week that anti-coalition forces had been stepping up attacks with the start of warmer weather three months ago.
Crude Chinese-made 107 mm rockets have been fired at coalition forces for over a year, but in most cases they have fallen harmlessly and far short of their intended targets. About 11,500 coalition troops, the bulk of them Americans, conduct routine patrols and operations in search of Taliban rebels and their allies, particularly in the volatile eastern and southern parts of the country.
Davis said Afghan border guards just south of Orgun found a homemade bomb on Saturday that was destroyed by US troops. Bureau Report