3:52 AM
McGhori
KABUL: A rocket exploded on Thursday near the venue of a major gathering in the Afghan capital discussing controversial future relations with the United States, officials said.
Two rockets were fired into the city shortly after 8:00 am, before day two of the loya jirga, a traditional meeting of elders, had started.
“It’s apparently rocket shots fired into Kabul,” said the city’s police Chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi after witnesses reported two loud explosions.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said one of the rockets landed by the side of a road in an area next to the Intercontinental Hotel, which an AFP reporter said was roughly 500 metres (yards) from the jirga venue.
One civilian had been “slightly injured” by the other rocket which landed several kilometres (miles) from the jirga venue, Sediqqi said.
In a text message sent to journalists, the Taliban claimed it launched two rockets at the loya jirga tent late Wednesday.
The Islamist militants, leaders of a 10-year insurgency against roughly 140,000 Nato-led forces and Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government, are known to distort and exaggerate their claims in relation to attacks.
They had threatened to attack the loya jirga, convened by Karzai to discuss a strategic partnership being negotiated with the United States and a peace strategy with insurgents.
During Afghanistan’s last loya jirga in 2010, militants fired rockets at the event in a breach of security that led to two ministers resigning.
On Wednesday, Karzai outlined conditions for a US troop presence in his country after Nato combat forces leave at the end of 2014.
He called on the US to take steps including stopping night raids and respecting Afghan sovereignty in order for Afghanistan to agree to host US troops in the long-run.
Washington insists it is not seeking a permanent presence in Afghanistan and the Pentagon said Wednesday that it was “too early” to define exactly how a partnership between the US and Afghanistan would work post 2014.
“We do want to have a long-term strategic partnership but specific components of that partnership are still to be defined,” said Pentagon press secretary George Little.
An AFP reporter at the scene of the rocket impact in northern Kabul, some distance from the jirga, said the projectile hit a pile of dirt in an area where people parked handcarts used to sell vegetables on the street.
Windows in buildings nearby were shattered and police sealed off the area, the reporter added.
A witness who did not want to give his name said: “The sound of the explosion was huge. I thought it was a suicide bombing.
“When we came out, I saw the injured person lying down. He had injuries to his shoulder. The flesh on his shoulder had gone.”
Posted in: INTERNATIONAL
