President Hamid Karzai aborted a trip to a provincial capital in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday after a rocket hit near the landing site for his helicopter, officials said. The rocket landed not far from where U.S. military helicopters carrying the president to a school opening in the eastern city of Gardez were preparing to land. The helicopters did not land and returned the president to Kabul. No one was hurt, either on the ground or in the air, presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said. Ludin said the rocket came down in a village about a mile (1.5 kilometers) from Gardez. However, American spokesman Maj. Mark McCann said the impact site was just 300 meters (yards) from the landing zone. It was unclear whether the rocket was fired at the aircraft or the school. "The president was not in any imminent danger," McCann said.
