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A rocket fire damaged an aircraft that carried US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey to Afghanistan at the Bagram airbase in central Parwan province, the alliance said on Tuesday. Insurgents fired two missiles into the base outside Kabul, with the shrapnel hitting two aircrafts, including one used by the top US military official. The general was not on board at the time.
Dempsey arrived in the country on Monday in a C-17 transport aircraft which was parked at Bagram Airbase, north of Kabul, when two rockets landed near the apron late on Monday night, slightly wounding two ground staff.
The aircraft was only being used temporarily by Dempsey and his staff. The rockets also damaged a nearby helicopter.
Dempsey, who had been in Kabul for talks with NATO and Afghan commanders on a string of recent rogue shootings, left the country on another aircraft.
Bagram is occasionally targeted with rockets and mortar shells fired by insurgents from surrounding hills and fields.
Before leaving the country, Dempsey met his Afghan counterpart, General Sher Mohammad Karimi, who raised the issue of insider attacks by rogue forces that have killed 10 American troops in the past two weeks.
The US-controlled base comes under rocket or mortar fire about twice every month, but they rarely cause damage, officials said.
Dempsey's visit to Afghanistan came at a time of growing attacks on US forces by Afghan security forces.
An incident Sunday brought the death toll in attacks by Afghan military and police personnel this year to 40, according to US military officials.
Twenty-three of those killed were Americans, according to the US Defense Department.
Dempsey arrived in the country on Monday in a C-17 transport aircraft which was parked at Bagram Airbase, north of Kabul, when two rockets landed near the apron late on Monday night, slightly wounding two ground staff.
The aircraft was only being used temporarily by Dempsey and his staff. The rockets also damaged a nearby helicopter.
Dempsey, who had been in Kabul for talks with NATO and Afghan commanders on a string of recent rogue shootings, left the country on another aircraft.
Bagram is occasionally targeted with rockets and mortar shells fired by insurgents from surrounding hills and fields.
Before leaving the country, Dempsey met his Afghan counterpart, General Sher Mohammad Karimi, who raised the issue of insider attacks by rogue forces that have killed 10 American troops in the past two weeks.
The US-controlled base comes under rocket or mortar fire about twice every month, but they rarely cause damage, officials said.
Dempsey's visit to Afghanistan came at a time of growing attacks on US forces by Afghan security forces.
An incident Sunday brought the death toll in attacks by Afghan military and police personnel this year to 40, according to US military officials.
Twenty-three of those killed were Americans, according to the US Defense Department.
