US Marines injured in explosion at Kandahar airport

Several US Marines are injured after an explosion at Kandahar airport.

One Marine was seen being loaded onto a Huey UH-1N helicopter and two more walked to the chopper with assistance.

Captain David Romley, a Marines spokesman, said they were being evacuated to nearby Camp Rhino, where the Marines have a medical facility.

Romley couldn't immediately give the exact number of Marines injured or the extent of their injuries.

He said the explosion occurred at the southern end of the runway at about 1pm (7.30am GMT).

One of their immediate priorities at the airport was checking for mines and booby traps.

Disposal crews detonated nine caches of weapons Saturday in areas around the airport. The munitions included air-to-air rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, handguns, machine guns and large BMG21 surface-to-surface rockets.

They also detonated unexploded bomblets from US cluster bombs dropped on the area.

The Marines moved into Kandahar's airport on Friday, and plan to shift most of their operations from Camp Rhino, a desert airstrip 70 miles southwest of the city.