U.S. base in southeastern Afghanistan attacked with rockets, market attack in Kandahar

<br>BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) _ U.S. troops called in airstrikes and fired mortars Friday in response to a rocket attack near their special operations base along the border with Pakistan. None of the troops

Friday, September 20th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) _ U.S. troops called in airstrikes and fired mortars Friday in response to a rocket attack near their special operations base along the border with Pakistan. None of the troops was harmed.

In the southern city of Kandahar, two men draped in burqas _ the head-to-toe garments worn by many Afghan women _ fired shots and threw a grenade in a market packed with shoppers. Two Afghan soldiers were severely injured.

The violence underscored growing security concerns in Afghanistan. In recent months, gunmen assassinated the vice president and another government minister. A powerful explosion in Kabul on Sept. 5 killed 30 people. The same day there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai as he visited Kandahar.

The capital has also seen a series of small bombings, and authorities have seized explosives intended for other attacks.

The rocketing of the U.S. base in Lwara, 110 miles southeast of Kabul, the capital, began about dawn Friday, said Col. Roger King, a military spokesman. Six 107-millimeter rockets struck near the base, some as close as 250 yards. The attackers then opened fire with small arms.

As the Americans returned fire with automatic weapons and mortars, A-10 Thunderbolt fighters dropped four 250-pound bombs and fired high-explosive rounds toward the attackers, said King from Bagram Air Base, the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan.

It was not immediately clear if any of the attackers were killed, and King said American forces were searching the area.

U.S. bases frequently have come under fire in the area southeast of Kabul, near the border with Pakistan. It is one of the most active fronts in the U.S.-led campaign against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

King said Friday's attack was unusual for its boldness. In the past, rockets have landed far wide of their targets and were launched on timers, allowing the attackers to leave the scene long before, he said.

``This one was a little different in that the rockets were fired and then there was small arms fire,'' King said.

The Kandahar market attack occurred as hundreds of people were buying vegetables shortly before lunchtime. The two burqa-clad assailants fled, but residents surrounded the taxi driver who brought the attackers and turned him over to police. The driver was led away, his feet shackled. The shooters got away.

The two soldiers were being treated at Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, both in serious condition, hospital staff said. Four other people were wounded as well.

Also Friday, officials announced that Afghan security forces had detained 400 people in a sweep in southwestern Afghanistan after an ambush Wednesday that wounded an intelligence chief in Helmand province. It was unclear why so many men were detained or how many were actually involved in the ambush.