Pentagon and NATO Leaders, Visiting Kabul, Are Met by Insurgent Rocket Barrage

KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents fired dozens of rockets at the international airport in Kabul and near the American Embassy on Wednesday as the top leaders of the Pentagon and NATO met with the Afghan president.

There was no physical threat to the president, Ashraf Ghani, or his guests, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, the first high-profile visitors to the presidential palace since the Trump administration announced a new Afghanistan strategy a month ago.

But the rocket attack forced the airport to close temporarily, highlighted the country’s fragile security and demonstrated the insurgency’s reach in even the most fortified areas of the capital.

Both the Taliban and the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the group had sought to target the aircraft that brought Mr. Mattis to Kabul.

It was not immediately clear if Mr. Mattis’s aircraft — or any other aircraft — had been hit. Reports of aircraft damage were denied by both the Afghan Air Force and American military officials.

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“There has been an attack, our special forces are dealing with it,” Mr. Ghani said at a news conference. “This attacking civilian targets is a sign of weakness, not strength.”

Mr. Mattis, speaking at the same news conference, said: “An attack on an international airport, anywhere in the world, is a criminal act by terrorists. It is a classic example of what the Taliban are up to right now.”

After the rocket strikes, Afghan helicopters circled the capital’s diplomatic quarters and the airport for hours. Gen. Salem Almas, the head of criminal investigations for the Kabul police, said Afghan forces had started an operation in the area where the rockets were fired.

He did not provide details on the number of rockets, which were most likely rocket-propelled grenades, but officials at the airport said that many had landed, and that assailants had entered a house behind the airport.

The operation to clear the house lasted about six hours. Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said all of the three attackers in the house were killed.

Mr. Danish said one civilian had also been killed and 11 wounded. Two houses were damaged in the attack on the airport and during government’s response, he said.

American helicopter gunships operating in support of the Afghan special forces caused several civilian casualties when “one of the missiles malfunctioned,” the United States military command said in a statement. It was not clear precisely what the errant missile had struck.

A senior Afghan security official said the assailants had stockpiled so much heavy weaponry in the house behind the airport that a standard clearance operation was impossible and helicopters targeted the area.

One Western official said the insurgent rockets had ignited part of an American weapons depot at a military camp, causing secondary explosions. The airport remained closed to domestic and international flights for much of the day, resuming flights on Wednesday night.

Some officials said Afghan and American aircraft parked at the airport may have been hit. Jalaluddin Ibrahimkhel, a spokesman for the Afghan Air Force, denied this. “The rockets landed in the military and civil parts of the Kabul airport, but it did not damage the runway or any aircraft,” he said.

Capt. Bill Salvin of the United States Navy, a spokesman for the military, also denied reports of aircraft damage and said “nothing in the schedule of the visit changed because of the attack.”

At the time the rockets struck, Mr. Mattis was meeting with Mr. Ghani and Mr. Stoltenberg. Mr. Mattis, who arrived from India, emphasized that President Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan was an “inclusive” effort to bring stability to South Asia.

The strategy has caused a particularly harsh reaction in Pakistan, which Afghan and American officials contend has long been a safe haven for the Taliban leadership. Mr. Mattis said that the Trump administration would work with Pakistan, but that it would also “watch Pakistan’s choices.”

Mr. Mattis did not provide details on how many more American troops would be arriving in Afghanistan, saying he did not want to share details that could help the enemy. But the lack of transparency has raised concerns, particularly since it was revealed that the United States already had thousands more troops in Afghanistan than officials had declared.

Mr. Ghani emphasized that American and NATO troops stationed in the country would not be “returning to a combat role,” but would be assisting, training, and advising the Afghan forces who are leading the fight.

“We will not abandon you to a merciless enemy trying to kills its way to power,” Mr. Mattis said, emphasizing the American position that a negotiated settlement was the only way out of the 16-year-old war.

The rival claims of responsibility for the rocket assault by both the Taliban and Islamic State pointed to the confusing landscape of the Afghan insurgency. Although the groups have fought territorial battles, American and Afghan officials have expressed concern about their convergence in certain areas.

The officials have been particularly concerned about an overlap in the enabling networks for major attacks planned by the Islamic State branch operating in Afghanistan and the Haqqani Network, an arm of the Taliban.

“There is an increasing collusion, increasing teamwork among the terrorist bands,” Mr. Mattis said.