June 20, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1423

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MIRANSHAH, June 19: A rocket was fired near a building housing US forces in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but the rocket landed in wasteland and no one was hurt, a Pakistani official said on Wednesday.

Several rockets have been fired in recent months at a vocational school in Miranshah which serves as the base for a small number of US military personnel hunting fugitive Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in the border area.

The official said unidentified people fired the rocket around 10.35pm on Tuesday in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan.

The rocket flew over the US base and exploded in a deserted area some 1.5km away.

“The explosion was heard in many parts of the town,” he said.

US troops are helping Pakistani soldiers search for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who may have escaped across the border from neighbouring Afghanistan.

On June 11, two rockets were fired at the same building but both missed their targets. Several other failed attempts have been made to hit the building since the US team arrived in April.—Reuters