The rockets fired at the construction site of the South Korean independent Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) base in Afghanistan on Thursday are believed to have been fired from hills southwest of the PRT site.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said a search revealed that an object believed to be a rocket shell has been found at the site.

Kim added that one of the two rockets fired fell 500 meters away from the PRT base.

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesman Colonel Park Sung-woo told reporters that Russian RPG 7s were used during the attack and that the South Korean soldiers there responded with the same type of weapon. The spokesman said that although the identity of the attackers has not been confirmed, they are believed to be linked to the Taliban.

Park also said that the 230-strong "Ashena” unit, dispatched to protect the PRT, will begin full operations in mid-July.