US troops under attack in Afghanistan
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan: US forces in Afghanistan were
pounded by rockets launched by suspected extremists as coalition troops
continued a major al Qaeda hunt, the US military said yesterday.
Spokesman Colonel Roger King said more than a dozen rockets were targeted
at three separate US bases in what was the largest assault on US forces
in almost five months.
The attacks came as up to 1,000 personnel continued a major air and
ground offensive against al Qaeda, code-named “Valiant Strike”, in
mountains near the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in southern
Afghanistan.
King refused to link the attacks, which occurred over a 24-hour period in
southeastern Paktika and Khost provinces and central Uruzgan, to the
start of US-led hostilities in Iraq.
“Special Forces in Orgun (in Paktika) reported six 107 mm rockets
impacting near their base at around 6pmon Thursday,” King told reporters
at the US military’s Afghan command on Bagram air base, north of Kabul.
“Four rockets were fired one hour later to the north of the base,
followed by a last round at 10 pm .”
“This last rocket fell four kilometres from the base and none of the
rockets fell within 500 metres of the base. There were no casualties and
no material damage,” King said.
King said US Special Forces also observed missile fire in Khost against a
border post on the nearby frontier with Pakistan at around 2 am
yesterday.
He said fire was returned and close air support from an A-10 aircraft
dropped several bombs on the suspected positions of the attackers. Again
there were no US casualties or damage reports.
According to officials in Khost, coalition troops Thursday aided US
forces in an operation to remove two unruly local security
commanders.
At Deh Rawood in the central province of Uruzgan, US Special Forces
reported that a rocket missed an observation tower near one of their
outposts at around 2am yesterday, King said.
Rocket attacks against US outposts in Afghanistan occur frequently, but
few hit their mark.
The attacks came as almost 600 ground troops backed by heavily armed
helicopters continued Valiant Strike, which was launched at dawn on
Thursday in the Sami Ghar mountains east of Kandahar and close to the
Pakistan border.
Afghanistan’s frontier with Pakistan is thought to conceal numerous al
Qaeda and Taliban fighters, many of whom are sheltering from intensified
hunts on the Pakistan side of the border following several key
arrests.
King said US troops had poured into the villages of Gari Kaloay and
Sekandarzay, around 140 kilometres east of the city of Kandahar, but had
not encountered any opposition.
“Operation Valiant Strike continues, there has been no contact with the
enemy in the past 24 hours,” King said.
“It is in a mountainous and isolated area, with villages in the valleys
and caves at altitude. Our troops have positioned their forces in the
area and have launched operations and searches,” King said.
Questioned on the objective of Valiant Strike, King said the target was a
“small number of al Qaeda members” but mainly Afghans loyal to other
extremist groups.
Believed to be one of the largest operations in the US-led coalition’s
operation in Afghanistan, Valiant Strike comes on the heels of several
major offensives against al Qaeda and their Taliban allies. – AFP
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