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Rocket Fired Near U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
Monday, June 24, 2002
(8:32 AM ET)
The Associated Press

Inside, they found rooms filled with firepower. "We were taken aback by the amount of stuff here," Sgt. Buck Ryan said. "In the last room, there was a curtain. When I pulled it back, it was like, 'Oh my God.' It was stacked up to the roof with weapons and ammunition."

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- AP
A rocket was fired near U.S. special forces in southeastern Afghanistan, a spokesman said today. The attack came soon after nearby British forces seized a large stash of weapons that may have been left by al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

None of the troops was injured in the rocket explosion near the town of Khost. The soldiers searched for the firing site but did not find it, said Col. Roger King.

In the nearby village of Organ-e, residents told U.S. troops that rockets might be aimed at the Americans in the area. A U.S. patrol searched the area and found a rocket that had been armed but failed to launch, King said.

It was not immediately clear when the rocket had been fired, but it happened after Saturday's discovery by British troops of one of the largest weapons caches yet uncovered in southeastern Afghanistan.

More than 10 men -- some in camouflage fatigues -- were detained during the raid in the village of Surwipan, marines said. Eight were brought to the military interrogation center at Bagram air base.

Gen. Tommy Franks, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, was due to visit Bagram today. Franks met Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad earlier in the day for talks about security in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.
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2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan