ISAF troops on high alert after the rocket attacks

KABUL, September 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - NATO-led peacekeepers were on heightened alert Friday, September 12, as they investigated an overnight rocket attack on their main base in the Afghan capital, the second such attack this year and the first since the alliance took over command last month.

The rocket exploded at 9:50 pm (1720 GMT) Thursday in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) base, known as Camp Warehouse, housing hundreds of troops in east Kabul, causing some damage but no casualties, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

An hour later, a blast shook another ISAF base used by the Canadian troop contingent in southwest Kabul. The cause was still being investigated.

ISAF patrols have been dispatched to investigate both blasts and "soldiers were put on a heightened state of alert," ISAF announced in a statement.

Rebels believed to be resurgent Taliban and their allies have stepped up a bloody campaign in the past six weeks, targeting aid workers, Afghan and Western troops and officials.

The worst strike against ISAF since its deployment 21 months ago occurred near Camp Warehouse on June 7, when a car bomb attack killed four German peacekeepers. Al-Qaeda was allegedly blamed for the attack.

Initial investigations into Thursday night's attack indicated a "small caliber rocket" struck and damaged a shipping container in the Camp Warehouse. Bomb disposal experts were examining the site.

"We've got the fragments of the shell and hopefully we'll soon be able to confirm what it was," British ISAF spokeswoman Major Sarah Wood said.

The rocket appeared to have been fired from the nearby Ko-i-Safi mountain, Afghan police at the scene told AFP late Thursday.

"The attacks will in no way deter ISAF from its resolve in continuing this mission," ISAF commander Lieutenant General Goetz Gliemeroth said.

"In fact, this incident reminds us of why we are here - to help the Afghan transitional authority to increase the stability here in Kabul and the surrounding areas."

The attack fell on the second anniversary of the September 11 strikes, blamed on al-Qaeda, which at the time was based in Afghanistan.

The United States had warned its citizens in Kabul of possible attacks to coincide with the anniversary and had instructed them to avoid public places. U.S. diplomats were told not to undertake unofficial travel within the city. Some 110 U.S. troops are now serving with ISAF since NATO assumed command last month.

Six months ago two rockets were fired at ISAF headquarters. The two 122mm rockets destroyed two vehicles and damaged a building but there were no casualties.

ISAF blamed the March 30 attack on supporters of renegade Islamic leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister who was this year declared a “terrorist” by the United States.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for Thursday night's rocket attack.

Small-caliber 107mm rockets are the weapon of choice for Taliban fighters and their allies.

With 1,900 troops, Canada is currently the main contributor to the 5,500-strong ISAF, which has been commanded since last month by NATO in its first major deployment outside its traditional European operation area.

ISAF has been helping with security in Kabul since its creation under a United Nations mandate in December 2001.