Land mine wounds three soldiers in Afghanistan

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Three special forces soldiers were wounded when their vehicle hit a land mine in western Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Wednesday. The explosion injured all three, including one soldier whose foot was later amputated.

The soldiers hit the mine with their four-wheel drive vehicle north of the town of Farah on Tuesday, Col. Roger King said. He would not say whether the troops were U.S. soldiers.

However, in New Zealand -- which has sent troops to Afghanistan -- defense force chief Air Marshall Bruce Ferguson said three New Zealand commandos were seriously wounded in a land mine explosion in Afghanistan.

The two reports appeared to refer to the same incident, but King refused to confirm the nationalities of the injured troops.

One of the men had a foot amputated by American medical staff in the region, King said. The other two sustained shrapnel wounds.

Also Wednesday, several rockets or mortars were fired at a U.S. base near Asadabad in eastern Afghanistan. They were fired from west of the base at about 3 a.m. and landed half a mile to a mile short of it, King said.

The base called in A-10 attack planes, but they were unable to find the attackers.

U.S. bases in Afghanistan frequently come under fire, but are rarely hit. King said there had been an average of three attacks a week since June.