Militants have attacked the airplane of United States' Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin E. Dempsey while on a visit to Afghanistan.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed in a press release on Tuesday that "shrapnel from an indirect fire round at Bagram Airfield damaged the military aircraft that brought Gen. Martin E. Dempsey to Afghanistan."
An ISAF helicopter was also damaged in Monday night's rocket attack.
It said Gen. Dempsey was in his room at the time of the attack and was unharmed. However, unconfirmed reports said two U.S. maintenance crew were slightly injured.
Due to some exterior damage to Gen. Dempsey's aircraft, he left Afghanistan on Tuesday morning on a different military plane.
Gen. Dempsey landed on Bagram Airfield in a C-17 transport aircraft on Sunday to hold consultations with coalition and Afghan leaders about the spate of insider attacks on coalition forces by people wearing Afghan military and police uniforms.
Afghan leaders are just as concerned as coalition authorities are about insider attacks, Gen. Dempsey said in Kabul after meetings with ISAF commander Gen. John Allen, U.S. Central Command commander Gen. James Mattis, Lt. Gen. James Terry, Commander of the U.S. Corps Command in Afghanistan, and his Afghan counterpart Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi.
The Pentagon chief said this was the first time in his dozens of trips to the region that Afghans had exhibited this same level of concern.
by RTT Staff Writer
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