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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Rockets Hit US Base in Afghanistan, No Casualties Reported

FILE PHOTO: US troops stand guard during a handover ceremony of A-29 Super Tucano planes from US to the Afghan forces, in Kabul, Afghanistan September 17, 2020. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Five rockets were fired at a major US base in Afghanistan on Saturday, but there were no casualties, NATO and provincial officials said.

The rockets hit Bagram Airfield, said Wahida Shahkar, spokeswoman for the governor in northern Parwan province.

Shahkar said that 12 rockets were placed in a vehicle and five of them were fired while police were able to defuse seven others.

She couldn’t provide other details on any possible casualties or damage within the US base. She said there are no casualties among civilians in the area.

A NATO official confirmed the attack and said initial reports indicated that the airfield was not damaged, The Associated Press reported.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility. In April, the ISIS group claimed responsibility for five rocket attacks on the base. There were no casualties.

ISIS also has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital Kabul in recent months, including on educational institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students.

Violence in Afghanistan has spiked even as the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators hold talks in Qatar, trying to hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to decades of war. At the same time, The Taliban have waged bitter battles against ISIS militants, particularly in eastern Afghanistan, while continuing their insurgency against government forces.

Earlier this week, US Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, held an unannounced meeting with Taliban leaders in Doha to discuss military aspects of last February’s US-Taliban agreement.

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