- News>
- World
Attackers fire seven rockets at US base in Afghanistan
Bagram Air Base, June 20: Unknown attackers fired up to seven rockets at a US base in southeast Afghanistan but there were no casualties or damage, a US military spokesman said today.
Bagram Air Base, June 20: Unknown attackers fired up to seven rockets at a US base in southeast Afghanistan but there were no casualties or damage, a US military spokesman
said today.
"Seven rockets impacted in the vicinity of the fire base at Urgun-e last night (Thursday)," Colonel Rodney Davis told reporters at Bagram Air Base 50 kilometres north of Kabul.
Davis was unable to say who fired the rockets, but similar attacks have been blamed on Taliban remnants, their al-Qaeda allies or extremists linked to former Mujhaideen prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who is attempting to destabilise the government of President Hamid Karzai. Hekmatyar has been declared a wanted terrorist by Washington.
Some 19 months after the toppling of the Taliban, militia remnants and al-Qaeda fighters continue to launch regular attacks on foreign and pro-government targets, mainly in the eastern provinces bordering Pakistan.
"Rocket attacks are fairly routine, particularly in that area," Davis said. Rockets appear to be the weapon of choice for the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but they are inaccurate and rarely hit their targets or cause casualties.
Meanwhile Afghan militia forces Wednesday handed over to coalition forces 74 107 mm rockets and 54 rocket fuses found during an operation in the northeastern province of kunar, Davis said.
A US-led coalition force of some 11,500 troops is currently hunting down Taliban and al-Qaeda holdouts. Bureau Report
Davis was unable to say who fired the rockets, but similar attacks have been blamed on Taliban remnants, their al-Qaeda allies or extremists linked to former Mujhaideen prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who is attempting to destabilise the government of President Hamid Karzai. Hekmatyar has been declared a wanted terrorist by Washington.
Some 19 months after the toppling of the Taliban, militia remnants and al-Qaeda fighters continue to launch regular attacks on foreign and pro-government targets, mainly in the eastern provinces bordering Pakistan.
"Rocket attacks are fairly routine, particularly in that area," Davis said. Rockets appear to be the weapon of choice for the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but they are inaccurate and rarely hit their targets or cause casualties.
Meanwhile Afghan militia forces Wednesday handed over to coalition forces 74 107 mm rockets and 54 rocket fuses found during an operation in the northeastern province of kunar, Davis said.
A US-led coalition force of some 11,500 troops is currently hunting down Taliban and al-Qaeda holdouts. Bureau Report