Rocket lands near Kabul's airport after US Defense Secretary arrives

Kabul (Afghanistan): A rocket landed near Kabul’s international airport on Wednesday shortly after US Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived in the Afghan capital for talks, an official said.

“A rocket landed near the airport this morning. No casualties reported,” interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said in a tweet.

According to a news channel, the rocket attacked between 11.15 am and that all flights at the airport had been cancelled following the attack.

A news channel reported that around 20 to 30 rockets had been fired at the Kabul airport and indicated that an adjoining NATO base and not the Kabul international airport may have been the target of the attack.  

The attack came hours after Mattis arrived in the Afghan capital, the first member of Donald Trump`s cabinet to visit the war-torn country since his pledge to stay the course in America’s longest war.