Three U.S. Soldiers Hurt in Afghanistan

Three U.S. soldiers were injured in two separate incidents in eastern Afghanistan and B-52 bombers were called in to protect an American base that came under rocket attack, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday.

Two Special Forces soldiers were treated for facial cuts Wednesday after an explosive was detonated under their vehicle 30 miles northeast of Jalalabad. A second device exploded without hurting anyone and a third was discovered unexploded.

Another U.S. soldier was shot in the abdomen Wednesday at the Kandahar air base. Col. Roger King, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, said there was no hostile fire and that the shooting was under investigation.

The soldier, who was not identified, underwent surgery at the Kandahar base in the southeastern part of the country and was in critical but stable condition. He was expected to be airlifted to the Landstuhl medical center in Germany.

Early Thursday, officials at the U.S. base at Asadabad reported rocket fire over their compound. Jets and B-52 bombers hastened to provide air support, but the military would not say if the B-52s dropped any bombs.

Asadabad is about 115 miles northeast of the capital, Kabul, and Jalalabad is about 70 miles east of Kabul.