Rocket hits Kabul, official killed in province

1.00pm - By DAVID BRUNNSTROM

KABUL - A rocket hit a military base near the United States embassy and Nato headquarters in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, wounding an Afghan soldier, while gunmen shot dead a government official in a southern province.

The attacks came as President Hamid Karzai was in Washington to address the US Congress and talks with US President George W Bush expected to focus on the battle against Islamic militants and plans for Afghan elections in September.

An Afghan soldier was wounded in the rocket attack in Kabul, which caused a loud blast that echoed around the city, garrison commander General Mohammed Ayub Salangi told reporters.

The scene of the explosion was about 1km away from the heavily fortified US embassy compound and a similar distance away from the headquarters of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) peacekeepers.

Salangi said the blast was caused by a BM-1 rocket. "It landed in the Foreign Relations Department of the National Security Department," he said.

Rocket attacks have happened periodically in Kabul and have sometimes coincided with talks between Afghan and US leaders. Officials generally blame Taleban guerrillas or allied Islamic militants for the attacks, which rarely cause casualties.

Earlier, in the centre of the southern province of Kandahar Hamid Agha Hashimi, the head of the local refugee department, was shot outside his house in the village of Loya Wara.

A government official said two of Hashimi's bodyguards were also killed and another wounded. He added it was too early to say who the killers were.

Kandahar and other provinces have seen repeated attacks on officials and aid workers blamed Taleban and allied militants, raising concerns about security for the elections.

More than 800 people have been killed, most in militant-related violence, since August, the bloodiest period since the Taleban's overthrow by US-led forces in late 2001.

Until recently, most militant activity -- which continues despite the presence of a US-led military force of around 20,000 and thousands more Nato-led peacekeepers -- has been confined to the south and east of the country.

But on June 2, three foreigners and two Afghans from the international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres were killed in the northwestern province of Badghis.

And last Thursday, 11 Chinese working on a World Bank-funded project were killed in the northern province of Kunduz, raising concerns that militants are broadening their insurgency from the south and east.

Despite the violence, Karzai and his US backers appear determined to stick to plans to hold elections as scheduled. They have already been delayed from June on security worries.

- REUTERS