Rocket fire damages US military chief's C-17

21 August 2012

A C-17 transport aircraft used by US military chief General Martin Dempsey has been damaged by indirect rocket fire at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, it has been confirmed.

General Dempsey was not injured in the incident, and was not in the aircraft at the time, but was forced to leave the base using a different military plane as a result of the attack, which left two American maintenance staff injured.

Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Afghanistan to discuss the recent increase in 'green on blue' attacks by Afghan security forces against International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel.

An ISAF statement said that the damage was caused by shrapnel from an "indirect fire round".

NATO spokesman Colonel Thomas Collins said: "He [Gen Dempsey] was nowhere near the aircraft. We think it was a lucky shot."

"Indirect fire is not unusual at Bagram and there is absolutely no indication that this was an attack specifically targeting that plane.

"The rockets posed no threat to the safety of Dempsey or his staff, who were asleep in their quarters at the time of the incident in the early hours of the morning," he said.