Rocket Attacks Launched on U.S. Bases in Afghanistan

Pentagon officials said there were no casualties in either of the attacks.

In the first incident, opposition groups launched two rockets at the U.S. forward operating base near Khowst at about 4 a.m. Soldiers of the Combined Task Force-82 observed the rounds, which impacted several kilometers away.

In the second incident, three rockets were fired at a U.S. Special Forces base near Gardez between midnight and 1 a.m. The rounds impacted about a kilometer short of the airfield. U.S. soldiers alerted A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft at Bagram air base. The jets arrived but observed no activity at the presumed launching site.

An 82nd Airborne Division unit patrolling near Khowst also found three rockets set up to fire at the American base. The soldiers destroyed the weapons in place.

For the last week, Combined Task Force82 troopers have been conducting cordon and search operations as part of Alamo Sweep. Officials said the troops have confiscated weapons and ammunition and took one suspicious person to a forward operating base for questioning.

U.S. medical personnel have also been busy. American medics of CTF-82 and Task Force 44 have treated more than 1,400 Afghans for medical and dental problems. More than half the Afghans treated were children, officials said.