Afghan rocket hits US army chief’s plane
SBS
August 21, 2012
A rocket fired on a US airbase in Afghanistan has damaged the aircraft of America’s top military officer and wounded two maintenance crew.
Two rockets fired by insurgents struck the vast Bagram airfield early on Tuesday, with one causing damage to the C-17 used by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who left the base using another plane, his spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said.
Shrapnel from the rocket struck the door of the plane while it was parked on the runway, with two American maintenance crew suffering minor injuries in the attack, Lapan said.
The attack posed no threat to the safety of Dempsey or his staff, who were asleep in their quarters at the time of the incident, officers said.
Although sporadic shelling of Bagram is not uncommon, Taliban insurgents rarely manage to inflict serious damage or casualties at the base, according to military reports. …
The attacks are unprecedented in US military history and they have spawned so much mistrust that foreign troops have been ordered to be armed at all times, even within bases, officers said. …
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