Kabul bombing on eve of Rumsfeld visit

A U.S. soldier stands guard at a control point of Manas military base near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- At least three rockets have been fired close to the Afghan capital's main airport night on the eve of the arrival in Kabul of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Gen. Deen Mohammad Joorat, the Interior Ministry's chief of security affairs said there was no damage or casualty from Friday night's attack.

"They were fired by electric cables wired up to a battery," Joorat told Reuters news agency.

"They landed on flat ground just outside the perimeter of the airport and we don't know the reason behind it." The missiles struck at about 10:55 p.m. Friday (1825 GMT).

Rumsfeld, on a trip to Central Asian republics and Afghanistan, was scheduled to visit Kabul later on Saturday to meet interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and other top government leaders to address security problems in the war-battered nation.

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Earlier Saturday, Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev praised the United States for creating what he called a wall of security around troubled Afghanistan after talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"Over the past decade, Afghanistan has been the principal source of international terrorism, religious extremism, international drug trafficking and organized crime in this region," Reuters reported Akayev as saying.

Kyrgyzstan coalition

Rumsfeld, at a press conference with Akayev before heading to Afghanistan thanked Kyrgyzstan for establishing a major military airbase here for nearly 2,000 U.S. and allied troops launching airstrikes against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Rumsfeld praised Kyrgyzstan for "spontaneous support for the global war on terrorism" after the September 11 attacks on America, blamed by Washington on fugitive Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

"We share the same goals for Afghanistan...that it be a peaceful country and a successful country economically, that it no longer be a haven for terrorists and terrorist training camps." the secretary said.

Both Rumsfeld and Akayev praised growing military, economic and technical cooperation between the United States and this small central Asian republic northeast of Afghanistan.

The two both noted that the small former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, with a defense budget of less than $15 million, had allowed Western military construction of a major base at Manas international airport near Bishkek.

"The base in Manas has been exceedingly useful and helpful to the coalition effort." Rumsfeld said.

Spring offensive

About half of the 1,900 troops at the base are American. Troops from Australia, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and Spain as well as six U.S. F/A-18 and six French Mirage fighters, along with refuelling and military cargo jets, are based there also.

"It becomes a very important component in establishing regional security and stability," Akayev said.

Rumsfeld told reporters travelling with him on his fourth trip to the region since September 11 attacks on America that he would spend his time in Afghanistan focusing on security.

Earlier en route from Washington to Bishkek on the first leg of a four-day trip, the secretary said he expected al Qaeda and Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan to begin a spring offensive soon against the interim government and Western troops there.

"My impression is that the al Qaeda and Taliban are avoiding, for the time being at least, concentrating themselves in larger groups," he said.

"My guess is as spring comes and the weather improves, and as they find ways to communicate with each other, that they will probably again try to attack the interim authority and opposing factions in the country as well as U.S. and coalition forces."

"God bless the people of Kyrgyzstan for being so hospitable and welcoming the coalition," he said on Friday, speaking to the troops at Manas.

Kyrgyzstan, with a population of 4.8 million people and a chiefly agricultural economy, gained its independence when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. It is one of several countries providing bases or overflight rights for the U.S.-led coalition.

The poor, mountainous country, sandwiched between China and Kazakhstan, shares no border with Afghanistan, but is only a brief flight away and has become a prime ally.