Missouri Guard agriculture team reports no fatalities after attack

The Missouri National Guard Agribusiness Development Team VI is reporting no fatalities or life-threatening injuries after an attack on the forward operating base where they are stationed in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province.

Missouri National Guard adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner, has ensured the Resiliency and Family Support teams are working to assist the unit's families in Missouri. All families have been contacted by the Missouri National Guard and have information on their soldier or airman. Gov. Jay Nixon also has been briefed about the attack.

The approximately 55 soldiers and airmen of Missouri Agribusiness Development Team VI recently arrived in Afghanistan after pre-mobilization training at Camp Clark, Mo. and Camp Atterbury, Ind. Their mission is to help agricultural reconstruction and development in Nangarhar Province.

Afghan officials have blamed the brazen series of weekend attacks on the Haqqani militant network, saying Monday that fighters captured in the assault claimed they were affiliated with the insurgent faction tied to the Taliban and al-Qaida.

The 18-hour offensive left 36 insurgents and 11 others dead and was the largest in Kabul since insurgents fired on the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters last September. That attack also was also blamed on the Haqqani network, which commands the loyalties of an estimated 10,000 fighters and is considered one of the most lethal threats to NATO in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.