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April 27, 2002
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Saturday
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Safar 13, 1423
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US troops come under fire in Afghanistan
BAGRAM AIR BASE, April 26: A forward operating base for US troops came under rocket attack in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, a US military spokesman said.
Major Bryan Hilferty said there were no injuries and it was unclear who fired the rocket.
“One of our forward operating bases came under attack yesterday in eastern Afghanistan. A rocket landed nearby,” he said at this coalition base 50 kilometres north of Kabul.
“There were no injuries. It did not land in our compound.”
American and coalition forces are concentrating their search for remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the mountainous east of the country.
US sources said it was possible their forces had been caught in crossfire between rival warlords.
“Once again we do not know for sure if they are aimed at us,” one officer said.
On Monday three mortars landed near a coalition base in Gardez, the capital of eastern Paktia province, where US-led forces raided a fortified Taliban and Al Qaeda mountain stronghold last month.
Hilferty said Afghan and US forces had also recovered a weapons and ammunition cache belonging to former Taliban soldiers in the east of the country following a tipoff from local villagers.
Remaining Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters are believed to have gathered in eastern Afghanistan, where the local population has traditionally been seen as sympathetic to their cause.—AFP
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