With defiant statements directed at President Trump and the Afghan government, the Taliban marked the 18th anniversary of 9/11 by claiming to have fired missiles at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the U.S. Air Force Base at Bagram.

The terrorist group said in a statement its “mujahideen” had fired missiles at the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital shortly after midnight, and launched a similar attack at Bagram, some 30 miles north of Kabul, a base it described as the “largest nest of American invaders in the country.”

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It claimed that according to its sources “the enemy suffered casualties in both attacks,” but said it was awaiting further information.

“The occupiers have suffered heavy casualties and financial losses [at Bagram],” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujadid tweeted separately.

According to the Associated Press, a rocket landed at the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital minutes after midnight, but officials “declared all-clear about an hour later and reported no injuries.”

Queries sent to U.S. forces in Afghanistan about the Bagram claim brought no response by press time.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry reported that a rocket had landed near the compound of the Defense Ministry in Kabul, causing no casualties. The ministry is situated about a mile from the U.S. Embassy.

The attacks come as America marks the anniversary of al-Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The U.S. invaded less than a month later to topple the Taliban regime which had provided its al-Qaeda allies a safe haven in its “emirate.”

In the almost 18 years since then, 2,434 U.S. personnel have been killed in the conflict, 1,909 of them in combat, according to a tally of official data.

(Excerpt from CNS News. Article by Patrick Goodenough.)