Karzai unhurt in Taleban attack

Taliban fighters have fired rockets at a compound in which Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, was giving a speech, a Taliban spokesman said

An official told Al Jazeera that six rockets were fired on Sunday towards the president's residence in Andar district of Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul.

Government officials said no one was hurt.

The rockets fell several hundred metres away and some of the audience began to flee, but Karzai urged them to stay and finished his speech, an official and a witness said.

Witnesses said the president was meeting tribal leaders in the area.

Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban spokesman, said the Taliban knew that Karzai would be attending the meeting in Andar district and fired 12 rockets.

Taliban influence

Afghan government leaders have been touring Afghanistan, particularly in the south, to convince tribal leaders and prominent figures in the areas to abandon support for the Taliban and join the government.

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Officials said Mr Karzai was delivering a speech to elders of the Andar district of Ghazni province, in central Afghanistan, when up to a dozen rockets struck a building close by. Though some members of the President's audience sought cover, he reportedly urged them to stay until he had completed his speech.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, later told reporters that his organisation was responsible. "The Taliban knew that Karzai was coming to Andar district. When Karzai was meeting with the people, the Taliban fired 12 rockets," he told the Associated Press. "The rockets fell nearby." Mr Ahmadi said that after the attack the Taliban watched the area as ambulances and helicopters patrolled.

Officials later said that there were no casualties. A local reporter who was present when the rockets struck said that Mr Karzai had been delivering a speech outlining government plans to build roads and health clinics. "He briefly stopped his speech, and the people were concerned and worried," said the reporter, Arif Yaqoubi. "But then Karzai continued by saying, 'Calm down and don't worry'."

Mr Karzai has survived a number of attempts on his life. He is often derisively referred to as the Mayor of Kabul, as his power and that of the central government barely extends beyond the capital and its hundreds of foreign troops.

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