U.S. Troops Attacked in Afghanistan
By REUTERS
Filed at 7:59 a.m. ET
KABUL (Reuters) - Rockets were fired at an eastern Afghan airport used by U.S. forces on Sunday and rival commanders dug in west of Kabul as violence mounted ahead of the scheduled return from exile of ex-King Zahir Shah next week.
News also emerged of rocket attacks on the governor's office in the southern city of Kandahar, the bastion of the ultra-Islamic Taliban until they were ousted late last year.
The private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Pressquoted Mohammad Ebrahim, governor of the eastern province of Khost, as saying Sunday's rockets were fired at the airport in the provincial capital of the same name, but missed.
It said residents reported U.S. planes roaring overhead after the attack, but no bombing was heard in an area where U.S.-led forces are hunting remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda, which is blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
AIP did not mention whether there were any casualties in the early morning rocket attack, but quoted Ebrahim as saying tribal rivalries could be behind it.
It said Ebrahim did not rule out the involvement of al Qaeda or Taliban fighters in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan and that an investigation was underway.
KANDAHAR CURFEW
Travelers from Kandahar arriving at the Pakistani border town of Chaman said a rocket attack on the governor's office in the southern city killed three people and wounded nine.
``Five rockets hit the governor's house on Friday night,'' said one traveler from the city, whose airport is being used by U.S. forces holding scores of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners.
The travelers said a dawn-to-dusk curfew had been imposed on Kandahar, a hunt for the attackers had been mounted and 15 people had been detained for questioning.
``They have arrested 10 people yesterday and five more today,'' said one. ``Most of the detained people are travelers,'' said another.
International peacekeepers in Kabul came under a similar attack on Monday.
They found four more rockets on crude launchers attached to timing devices and aimed at installations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which had not been fired.
Early on Saturday, two British patrols were fired on by gunmen the interim administration of Hamid Karzai acknowledged belonged to its security forces.
General Deen Mohammad Joorat, the Interior Ministry security chief, said seven men, all from the minority Shi'ite Hazara ethnic group, had been arrested. He alleged their intention was to undermine security in Kabul.
Officials increased the number of arrests to nine, but there was no immediate word on who the other two were.
DIGGING IN
In Wardak province, just west of Kabul, the forces of rival
commanders which clashed on Friday exchanged fire again overnight and appeared to be preparing for more battles, witnesses and travelers from the area said.
``You can see fighters, some with uniforms, positioning mortars, heavy machine guns and other military equipment as part of what seems preparation for further clashes,'' said one.
The forces of interim government commander Muzaffaruddin and those of royalist Ghulam Rohani Nangali exchanged fire overnight in Dashti Toop, about 25 miles from Kabul, after a lull on Saturday, travelers said.
Muzaffaruddin said on Saturday the fighting began when his troops were fired on by Nangali's men, whom they wanted to disarm because they were robbing travelers on the road.
Local people said Muzaffaruddin wanted to diminish Nangali's influence before the return of Zahir Shah from nearly 30 years of exile in Rome.
Zahir Shah is due to preside over the opening session in June of a Loya Jirga, or grand council of elders called to decide whether the interim administration stays or a new one is put in place to guide Afghanistan to general elections in a further two years.
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