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Afghan rocket attack damages US army chief plane | Afghan rocket attack damages US army chief plane |
(40 minutes later) | |
An insurgent rocket attack on a US air base in Afghanistan has damaged the plane of America's top military officer while he was on a visit there. | An insurgent rocket attack on a US air base in Afghanistan has damaged the plane of America's top military officer while he was on a visit there. |
Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not near the plane at the time but two US maintenance crew were slightly injured. | Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not near the plane at the time but two US maintenance crew were slightly injured. |
The attack happened late on Monday night at the US air base in Bagram. | The attack happened late on Monday night at the US air base in Bagram. |
He was in Afghanistan to discuss a growing number of attacks against Nato soldiers by Afghan security personnel. | He was in Afghanistan to discuss a growing number of attacks against Nato soldiers by Afghan security personnel. |
Gen Dempsey had arrived on Monday in a C-17 transport aircraft which was parked at Bagram. | |
A statement from Nato's Isaf force said shrapnel from "an indirect fire round" had damaged the plane as well as a Nato helicopter. | |
The general was in his room at the time of the attack, according to officials. | |
"He was nowhere near the aircraft. We think it was a lucky shot," Nato spokesman Col Thomas Collins is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. | "He was nowhere near the aircraft. We think it was a lucky shot," Nato spokesman Col Thomas Collins is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. |
Gen Dempsey had left Afghanistan by Tuesday morning using another plane. | |
There have been insurgent attacks against the heavily fortified base, located about 30 miles (50km) north of Kabul. | There have been insurgent attacks against the heavily fortified base, located about 30 miles (50km) north of Kabul. |
In May 2010 militants launched a co-ordinated assault on Bagram, injuring several Nato troops. Two US soldiers were killed in a similar attack in June 2009. | In May 2010 militants launched a co-ordinated assault on Bagram, injuring several Nato troops. Two US soldiers were killed in a similar attack in June 2009. |
Gen Dempsey's visit to discuss so-called "green on blue" killings came after an incident on Sunday in which an Afghan in a police uniform shot dead a Nato soldier. | |
The victim was the 10th US soldier to die in such an attack in two weeks | |
Nato forces are due to withdraw combat troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, with only training troops remaining. |