Rockets damage top U.S. general's aircraft in Afghanistan

(CNN) -- Shrapnel from rocket fire Tuesday, August 21st damaged the plane that carried the top U.S. military official to Afghanistan, officials said.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dempsey was in his room at the time of the incident and was unharmed.

Dempsey arrived in Afghanistan on Monday for meetings with coalition and Afghan leaders, including Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO forces, and Afghan Army Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, Dempsey's counterpart in the country.

The C-17 was parked at Bagram Air Field, outside Kabul, overnight when it was hit by shrapnel from two rockets, said Dempsey's spokesman Col. David Lapan. Two base maintenance personnel were slightly injured, he said.

A NATO helicopter was also damaged, the alliance said.

Dempsey left the country Tuesday on a different plane.

The U.S.-controlled base comes under rocket or mortar fire about twice every month, but they rarely cause damage, officials said.

Dempsey's visit to Afghanistan came at a time of growing attacks on U.S. forces by Afghan security forces.

An incident Sunday brought the death toll in attacks by Afghan military and police personnel this year to 40, according to U.S. military officials.

Twenty-three of those killed were Americans, according to the U.S. Defense Department.