Afghanistan crisis: Rockets fired at Kabul airport intercepted by US anti-missile system
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Rockets were fired from a vehicle towards the Kabul airport on Monday morning.
Kabul, Afghanistan: With less than 48 hours due for the US to complete its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, several rockets were fired at Kabul's airport on Monday, witnesses and security sources has said.
Several reports from witnesses also suggest that smoke could be seen rising near the airport.
As per the information from an AFP staff, the sound of rockets whooshing over the capital was heard by him before the morning rush hour began.
As many as five rocket were intercepted by the US anti-missile system, a US official told Reuters.
The sound of the airport's missile defence system could be heard by local residents, who also reported shrapnel falling into the street -- suggesting at least one rocket had been intercepted.
A security official who worked in the former administration that was toppled by the Taliban said the rockets had been fired from a vehicle in the north of the city.
The US is investigating whether civilians may have been killed in an airstrike it launched to destroy a car laden with explosives in Kabul, a spokesman for US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on late Sunday.
The statement came after CNN reported that nine members of a family, including six children, were killed in Sunday's airstrike in the crowded capital. Local media also reported that civilians were killed in the strike.
"We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul today," Captain Bill Urban, a US Central Command spokesman, said in a statement.
Last week's suicide bombing at the airport led to the worst single-day death toll for the US military in Afghanistan since 2011.
As per an NDTV report, the Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule compared with their first stint in power, which the US military ended because they gave sanctuary to Al-Qaeda.
But many Afghans fear a repeat of the Taliban's brutal interpretation of Islamic law, as well as violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions or the previous US-backed government.