Unknown assailants on Friday fired nine rockets at Pakistan's premier military academy near the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. — Photo by AFP

ABBOTTABAD: Attackers on Friday fired rockets at Pakistan’s top military academy, damaging its outer wall in a major security breach near the home where Osama bin Laden lived for years, officials said.

No one was hurt in the pre-dawn attack and it was unclear who fired the nine rockets from behind a mosque in mountains overlooking the Kakul academy.

The garrison city of Abbottabad was considered one of the safest parts of the country until American special forces on May 2 found and killed the al Qaeda founder in a compound where he apparently lived for five years.

Three rockets on Friday damaged the outer wall of the academy.

“Nine rockets were fired. Three rockets hit the boundary wall of the military academy and damaged it. No one was hurt in the attack,” Imtiaz Hussain Shah, a top local government official in Abbottabad told AFP.

“We have launched a search operation,” Shah added. Mohammad Karim Khan, Abbottabad police chief, confirmed the attack.

“Three rockets hit the boundary wall. Three others landed in an open area and three others landed in a field,” he said.

Officials blamed terrorists for the attack, which came one day after Pakistan’s army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, visited Abbottabad.

Shah later confirmed to AFP no arrests had yet been made and that a rooftop room had also been damaged in the attack.

“We have a security system and checkpoints on the roads, but the place they used as a launch pad is accessible from all sides and there are mountains at the back of this place,” he told a private TV channel.

“At this stage we cannot say who was involved, but they are terrorists and we are investigating how they managed to reach this place.”