Rocket attack on US base in Afghanistan

KABUL - A roadside bomb killed three Afghan civilians Monday in southern Afghanistan while one person died when a rocket hit the main US military base in the country, officials said.

The civilians were travelling in a minivan in the Andar district of Ghazni province when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

Besides the three people killed in the blast, two women were also injured, it said.

In northern Kabul, one rocket landed inside Bagram Airfield, the main US and NATO base in Afghanistan, killing one person, a spokesman with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in the Afghan capital. The spokesman did not provide more details about the incident or identify the deceased.

The base, which has the capacity to house more than 20,000 military personnel, has come under such attacks in the past.

The airfield, which was also the main military base for Soviet troops during their invasion in the 1980s, is located in a comparatively peaceful area.

Monday’s attack followed an attack Saturday by five suicide bombers in different parts of the southern city of Kandahar, including the central jail.

At least 35 people - 13 police officers and 22 civilians - were killed in around a dozen explosions involving suicide car bombings, roadside mines and rocket-propelled grenades.