Rockets fired at Afghan peacekeepers

By

Posted 9:36AM on Sunday, April 7, 2002

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Assailants fired two rockets at a compound housing international peacekeepers in the Afghan capital early Sunday, with one explosion detonating just a few yards from the complex, a spokesman for the security force said. Nobody was hurt in the attack, said Flight Lt. Tony Marshall, a spokesman for the British-led International Security Assistance Force peacekeepers. He said it was likely linked to efforts to destabilize the interim Afghan administration ahead of the loya jirga, a national council which meets in June to select a new government. Afghan authorities arrested at least 160 people last week, saying they were suspected of trying to destabilize the government and plot attacks against interim leader Hamid Karzai and the exiled former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, whose homecoming is expected later this month. ``Our initial assessment is that rather than a group wishing to target ISAF in its own right, that perhaps this is in some way linked to the current situation in Kabul,'' Marshall said. ``We believe that there is a link with this particular attack.'' Marshall would not say what evidence led peacekeepers to believe there was a connection between the attack and the arrests. Those still in custody from last week are linked to a hard-line Islamic group, Hezb-e-Islami, headed by an Afghan faction leader and former prime minister, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, officials said. A spokesman for that group denied it was connected with the alleged plot. Marshall said a 107mm Chinese-made rocket flew over the peacekeeping compound and exploded just to the northwest. Another rocket was also seen flying over the compound and an explosion was heard, but peacekeepers had not located the detonation site, he said. Peacekeepers were searching the area for evidence and to try to find where the rockets were fired from. The attack came just after 2:30 a.m., he said. It was the second incident in just over a week at the compound, located outside central Kabul along the main road leading from the capital to the eastern city of Jalalabad. On Mar. 28, the compound was partially evacuated after a suspicious package was found outside one of the gates. The package was blown up as a precaution but turned out to contain nothing but bricks. At the time, Marshall said peacekeepers were concerned the incident might have been intended to test the international forces' reaction. The 18-nation, 4,500-member force is responsible for maintaining security in Kabul. There have been several shooting incidents directed at peacekeepers in recent weeks, but no injuries. Previously, peacekeepers had said they believed disgruntled and unpaid northern alliance soldiers or common criminals were behind some of the attacks.