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Blast Hits Home of Afghan Leader's Brother

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

An explosion ripped through the home of the brother of President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday, causing no injuries but sending clouds of black smoke billowing from the sprawling compound in southern Afghanistan.

Police initially said the blast at Ahmed Wali Karzai's house was a bomb, but a presidential spokesman later said it was caused by the accidental detonation of explosive materials being transported at the site. The president's brother was not at home at the time.

"It wasn't a bomb that exploded in the house. Some munitions accidentally went off. It was just ... a servant who was moving small arms munitions and it suddenly for some reason exploded," spokesman Jawid Luddin told The Associated Press.

Kandahar is the traditional home of Karzai as well as the spiritual headquarters of the former Taliban regime ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led coalition war on terror.

Attacks by anti-government insurgents have become increasingly bold in recent days, with hundreds of rebels attacking police stations in eastern Afghanistan.

On Monday, suspected Taliban insurgents killed seven policemen in an ambush of a police vehicle south of Kabul, a regional military commander said Tuesday.

The attack took place on a valley road in Kharwar in Logar province, about 55 miles south of the capital, said Gen. Hatiqulluh Luddin.

About 12 gunmen opened fire with shoulder-fired rockets and machine-guns, destroying the vehicle. Luddin blamed members of the ousted Taliban regime for the attack and said security forces swept through the area after the attack and arrested seven people.

Also Tuesday, officials said a lone gunman opened fire on a vehicle belonging to a British charity in an attack on aid workers in northern Afghanistan.

Two Afghan employees of Save the Children-UK were slightly hurt by flying glass when bullets shattered their vehicle's windows Sunday in northeastern Badakshan province, said Sue Watkins, the organization's program director.

The aid workers were on their way to the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif when they came under fire 7 miles west of the provincial capital, Faizabad. The aid workers had just opened a health clinic in the area.

There were five Afghans in the vehicle at the time. The two wounded by flying glass were treated at a hospital and released.

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