Two Blasts in Southern Afghan City, No Casualties

Two rockets exploded in the center of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar Friday but there were no casualties in the latest in a wave of incidents in the former Taliban power base. The rockets were found on a street where government offices and foreign non-government organizations are located and blew up before a de-mining team could make them safe, a security official said. “It is a terror attack,” said the chief of the city’s intelligence department, Ataullah. He said there was no reports of any casualties. It was not clear how the rockets were detonated but another security official said they could have been set off by remote control or by a timer. “The explosion was really loud, it could be heard far away,” said Noor Jan whose bakery is on the street where the rockets exploded. He said police had taken three of his employees for questioning. Concern is growing that the Taliban, ousted in late 2001 by U.S.-backed opposition groups and a U.S. air assault, are trying to regroup along the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Full Story