Rockets fired near US position in Afghan
Tuesday, 18-Mar-2003

Bagram, Mar 18 (AP) -- Attackers fired three rockets near US forces in eastern Afghanistan early on Tuesday, but missed their target, a US Army spokesman said. No injuries were reported.

The 107-mm rockets flew over a US position near the eastern city of Gardez, Col Roger King said. It wasnt clear who fired the rockets, and officials were investigating.

Rocket attacks are common against the 23-nation coalition fighting remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and suspected Al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan.

"The only common denominator with the rockets is that they never hit what theyre aimed at," King said. "There has not been a single coalition casualty caused by one of these rockets."

Separately, a six-year-old Afghan boy yesterday attempted to stab a US soldier in Gardez with a syringe containing an unidentified liquid, but the needle was blocked by his protective vest, King said.

The boy fled the scene. Military officials were investigating.

Also on Monday, explosive ordinance teams near the southern city of Kandahar destroyed a weapons cache that included more than 4,000 mortar rounds, 500 artillery projectiles and about six million rounds of machine gun ammunition.