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Assassination Bid as New Violence Hits Afghanistan
Monday, April 8, 2002
(9:37 AM ET)
By Sayed Salahuddin & Brian Williams
Reuters

Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim, shown in a Dec. 11, 2001 photo, survived an assassination attempt in the eastern city of Jalalabad April 8, 2002, but four people were killed and 18 wounded, a Defense Ministry official said. The minister has been on a tour of Afghanistan for the past week to assess the nation's security situation.
Image Credit: Reuters.

"The bomb was placed in a kiosk in the center of Jalalabad. Four civilians were killed while 18 have been wounded," the official said.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Reuters
Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim survived an assassination attempt and Kabul was hit by a possible new rocket attack Monday as fragile Afghanistan appeared headed for a fresh wave of violence.

The attacks, a day after the six-month anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, were major setbacks to the war-ravaged country's efforts to recover since the defeat of the ultra-Islamic Taliban in December.

They raised fresh concerns about the security of ex-King Zahir Shah when he makes his scheduled return home from exile next week and the safe conduct of a Loya Jirga, or grand tribal council, in June to either endorse interim leader Hamid Karzai or choose a new government.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Omar Samad pointed the finger at Taliban survivors and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States, as possible suspects in the outbreak of violence.

He also did not rule out the involvement of drug bosses in the assassination attempt on Fahim.

Fahim was in the eastern city of Jalalabad on the day the government started a program to persuade local farmers to accept cash for not planting opium poppies from which heroin is derived.

The minister has been on a tour of Afghanistan for the past week to assess the nation's security situation.

* EIGHT FARMERS KILLED IN POPPY CRACKDOWN
* MORE ROCKETS
* NO CASUALTIES IN ROCKET ATTACK
(More: iWon.com News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan