Taliban rockets hit near Kabul presidency

An MD 530F military helicopter targets a house where suspected attackers are hiding in Kabul. Photo / AP

The Taliban has fired a pair of rockets toward the presidential palace in Kabul as the Afghan President was delivering his holiday message for the Muslim celebrations of Eid al-Adha, police said, prompting a ferocious aerial response with helicopter gunships bombing the house from where the rockets were reportedly launched.

The first rocket landed somewhere near the presidency building while the second hit near a Nato compound and the US Embassy but no one was hurt, said police official Jan Agha.

The boom of the rockets was heard in the live broadcast of President Ashraf Ghani's speech.

As he also heard the thud, Ghani interrupted his message to say: "If they are thinking the rocket attack will keep Afghans down, they are wrong."

The Kabul area where the rockets hit is one of the most secure in the Afghan capital.

The attack was a blow to Ghani's efforts to bring the insurgents to the negotiating table and hold peace talks to end the country's 17-year war.

On Sunday, Ghani had offered a conditional ceasefire to last during the holiday, saying it would only take effect if the Taliban reciprocated.

The Taliban have been at war with the US-backed Afghan Government for nearly 17 years, and have stepped up attacks in recent months, seizing rural districts and carrying out major assaults against security forces and government compounds on an almost daily basis.

- AP