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Violence mounts ahead of Zahir Shah's return

KABUL April 14. Rockets were fired at an eastern Afghan airport used by U.S. forces today and rival commanders dug in west of Kabul as violence mounted ahead of the scheduled return from exile of the former 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 Press (AIP) quoted 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.

AIP 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 Mr. Ebrahim as saying tribal rivalries could be behind it. It said Mr. 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.

Travellers 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 persons and wounded nine. "Five rockets hit the Governor's house on Friday night," said one traveller from the city, whose airport is being used by U.S. forces holding scores of Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners.

— Reuters

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