Saudi Cultural Week kicks off in Osaka to mark 70 years of Saudi-Japanese ties    Tourism Ministry shuts 10 unlicensed travel agencies in Riyadh    Saudi authorities arrest over 21,000 residency and labor violators in one week    Saudi graduates see record job market entry in 2024    Israeli defense minister boasts destruction of Beit Hanoun amid Gaza offensive    Von der Leyen vows to defend EU interests after Trump announces 30% tariffs    PKK lay down arms in northern Iraq in symbolic disarmament    U.S. judge blocks immigration arrests in Los Angeles over racial profiling claims    CMA approves major reforms to ease investment account access for foreign and local investors    Saudi Arabia reaffirms OPEC+ compliance as June crude supply hits 9.35 million bpd    Riyadh's Creative District to welcome Italy's Istituto Marangoni    France's Lady Liberty artwork goes viral as a new Statue of Liberty could be in the works    Saudi population reaches 35.3 million in 2024, majority under 65    Abdullah Al-Qaisoom wins silver at Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship    Aubameyang's future at Al Qadsiah in doubt after cryptic post comparing Saudi League strikers    Theo Hernández: Al Hilal can compete with Europe's best    SFDA approves 'Winrevair' for rare pulmonary hypertension treatment    HONOR returns to Esports World Cup as Official Smartphone Partner for 2025 The renewed commitment will see HONOR elevate mobile esports competition with cutting-edge AI technologies and industry-leading hardware    Michael Madsen, actor of 'Kill Bill' and 'Reservoir Dogs' fame, dead at 67    BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



US military chief's plane damaged in Afghan strike
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 22 - 08 - 2012

KABUL — Insurgents fired rockets into an American base in Afghanistan and damaged the parked plane of the visiting chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, the US-led military coalition said Tuesday.
The general was safe in his quarters at the time but had to take another aircraft out of the country.
The rocket strike that hit the C-17 military transport plane of US Army Gen. Martin Dempsey was yet another propaganda coup for the Taliban after they claimed to have shot down a US helicopter last week.
It also followed a string of disturbing killings of US military trainers by their Afghan partners or militants dressed in Afghan uniform. Such attacks killed 10 Americans in the last two weeks alone.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place late Monday night at the Bagram Air Field outside Kabul, saying Dempsey's plane was targeted by insurgents “using exact information” about where it would be.
Two maintenance workers were slightly injured by shrapnel from the two rockets fired into, coalition spokesman Jamie Graybeal said.
Dempsey “was nowhere near” the plane when the rockets hit near where the aircraft was parked, the spokesman added.
Dempsey finished his mission in Afghanistan and had left by Tuesday morning on a different plane, said Graybeal. A helicopter on the base was also damaged in the attack, according to NATO.
“Because there was some damage to the exterior of the aircraft, Gen.
Dempsey left Afghanistan on a different C-17,” Pentagon spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Wilkinson.
Graybeal cast doubt on the idea that Dempsey's plane may have been hit by any precision attack.
Dempsey was in Afghanistan to discuss the state of the war after a particularly deadly few weeks for Americans in the more than 10-year-old war as international forces begin drawing down.
He and the chief of US Central Command, Marine Gen. James R. Mattis, met with NATO and US Afghan commander Gen. John Allen in Kabul and also with a number of senior Afghan and coalition leaders.
Among the topics was the escalating number of “insider attacks” in which Afghan police or soldiers or militants dressed in Afghan uniform turn their guns on coalition military trainers.
An Afghan district police chief has been fired after one of his men killed a NATO soldier, marking the start of a crackdown on the increasing number of insider attacks, officials said Tuesday.
There have been 32 such attacks so far this year, up from 21 for all of 2011, according to NATO.
The police chief was sacked over the latest incident when a member of the Afghan national police opened fire on his foreign colleagues in the police headquarters of Spin Boldak district on Sunday, killing one and wounding another. — Agencies


Clic here to read the story from its source.