Mattis Targeted In Kabul Rocket Attack, Taliban Says
Source: Newsweek
MATTIS TARGETED IN AFGHANISTAN AIRPORT ROCKET ATTACK CLAIMED BY ISIS AND THE TALIBAN
BY JACK MOORE ON 9/27/17 AT 8:41 AM
Defense Secretary James Mattis plane was the target of a rocket attack at Kabul international airport on Wednesday during an unannounced visit to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the Taliban said.
As many as 40 rockets and rocket-propelled grenades struck the airport in a hail of fire, but Trumps top defense official had already left the airport, along with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The attack left at least five people wounded when a rocket hit a home near the airport.
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), who are competing against one another in the country, claimed responsibility for the attack. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed the groups involvement in a post on his official Twitter account.
ISIS claimed the attack on its self-styled news agency, Amaq, saying that infiltrators had used SPG-9 rockets and mortars.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/mattis-targeted-afghanistan-airport-rocket-attack-claimed-isis-and-taliban-672178
IggleDuer
(964 posts).... unless the Talaban was bragging that they found out about the "secret" visit.
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)"I stand with Roy Moore!"
former9thward
(31,997 posts)And they can. We need to get out. A hopeless war. I say that as someone who was there in 2002. 15 years ago ....
atreides1
(16,076 posts)How the hell did they know that it was Mattis on that plane...especially if this was an unscheduled visit???
muriel_volestrangler
(101,311 posts)The strike was in support of Afghan troops fighting insurgents who attacked Kabul airport with rockets shortly after US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis arrived on a visit.
It is not clear how many civilians were killed or injured.
...
"Resolute Support deeply regrets the harm to non-combatants. An investigation into the attack and the malfunctioning ammunition has begun."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41422498
pfitz59
(10,376 posts)requiring a military response? asleep at the wheel, I'd say...