Rockets fired at U.S. bases in eastern Afghanistan, military responds with bombing

Friday, November 15th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ American fighter jets pounded suspected enemy positions in Afghanistan after two U.S. bases came under rocket fire in the east of the country, the U.S. military said in a statement.

In the first attack Thursday evening, nine 107mm rockets were fired at a U.S. military base near Gardez, in eastern Afghanistan. The rockets landed near the base but did not cause any casualties, the military said in a statement from its headquarters at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul.

The military called in A-10 fighter planes, which dropped several bombs and fired about 2,000 rounds of ammunition. Special forces troops found a suspected enemy vehicle and destroyed a rocket that had not been fired.

Several hours later, a U.S. base in Lwara, 110 miles southwest of Kabul, came under rocket and mortar fire, and at least one round exploded inside the compound, the military said. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne division moved on the launch site, trading small arms and mortar fire with the suspected attackers.

An A-10 plane fired rockets at the launch site and dropped a 500-pound bomb after three suspected enemy fighters were detected moving, and another aircraft dropped a 1,000-pound bomb shortly afterward, the military said.

There were no coalition casualties. The military said it believes at least two of the suspected attackers were killed.

Attackers have been firing crude rockets near U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan for months, but they rarely hit their targets.

U.S. troops regularly conduct patrols along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, hunting for senior Taliban leaders and al-Qaida terrorists.