Rocket Lands Near US Special Forces in Afghanistan

Reuters | Rocket Lands Near US Special Forces in Afghanistan

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BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A rocket fired by unidentified attackers landed close to a U.S. special forces base in eastern Afghanistan early on Monday but caused no casualties, the U.S. military said.

Colonel Roger King, a spokesman at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, told a news briefing on Tuesday that the attack on the U.S. special forces compound near Lwara in Paktia province happened at about 4 a.m. local time on Monday.

He said the rocket landed about 20 yards from a forward security position.

King said a security patrol found six additional rockets armed with timing devices at the suspected launch site. He did not say who might have been responsible for the attack.

It was just the latest in recent weeks on the base at Lwara, which is close to the border with Pakistan. Previous rocket attacks have also caused no casualties.

Around 40 American soldiers have been killed in combat and non-combat incidents and more than 340 have been wounded in U.S. operations in Afghanistan that began last October following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

U.S.-led coalition forces have been pursuing remnants of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime and fighters of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which is blamed for the attacks on the United States.