Rockets hit foreign base in Afghanistan, 10 hurt

KABUL, July 1 (Reuters) Two rockets hit the main international military base in southern Afghanistan wounding 10 people including two Canadian soldiers, military officials said today.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months to its worst level since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. More than 1,100 people, including about 50 foreign troops, have been killed since January.

Two 107 mm rockets hit the main foreign military base at the airport in the town of Kandahar yesterday evening.

Taliban occasionally fire rockets into the sprawling base, home to 7,000 soldiers and civilian workers, but they usually explode harmlessly on open ground. Yesterday's attack was the first time anyone had been hurt.

''Two explosions occurred within the perimeter of Kandahar air field,'' said the Canadian military spokesman, Major Marc Theriault.

''One of them occurred in a common area and several people from various nations were wounded, among them two Canadian soldiers,'' he said.

The US military said 10 people were hurt. Three people had been treated for injuries and released, six were in stable condition and one was in serious condition, it said. It gave no more details.

The Taliban commander for southern Afghanistan, Mullah Dadullah, claimed responsibility.

''We fired several rockets at the air base and they hit their target,'' said Dadullah, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location. ''We will carry out more such attacks.'' Theriault said the attack was the seventh since he arrived at the base in February. In all, 22 rockets had been fired, he said.

The Canadian in critical condition was being evacuated to Germany, he said.

In a separate incident, gunmen attacked a police post in the generally peaceful north of the country early today, seriously wounding two men, police said.

It was the first suspected insurgent attack in the town of Koad-e-Barq, in Balkh province, and follows a series of attacks on foreign troops in the north that have raised fears the Taliban are expanding operations from their southern and eastern heartland.

REUTERS SHB BD1617