US troops based at the
airport in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar went on high alert and fired flares for a second consecutive night tonight, but there was no gunfire or explosions, an
AFP
reporter at the base said.
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Flares fall near US helicopters at an air base near Kandahar
Photo: Reuters TV |
The runway lights were turned off and US soldiers fired several flares in the same direction from where unidentified attackers fired on the coalition base late last night, but it was not immediately clear what had sparked tonight's alert.
One of the flares had started a brushfire beyond the perimeter.
No officials at the base were available for comment.
Two US soldiers were injured in last night's attack on troops guarding the perimeter of the base.
Several hours after nightfall last night, the assailants fired small arms at US positions on the perimeter of the Kandahar airfield, where more than 4,000 US, Canadian, Jordanian, Norwegian and other troops are based.
US forces responded with illumination flares fired from mortars and up to 10 minutes of machine-gun fire, as heavily armed troops and two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters were dispatched on a search for the attackers, US Army Major A.C. Roper said.
Mr Roper could not say whether the attackers intended to assault the base or were just probing its defenses, but said no intruders penetrated the base perimeter.
Seven men initially netted in the search were released when they were identified as "friendly" troops contracted to patrol the area outside the airfield perimeter, a US military spokesman said at US Central Command in Florida.
AFP