Time Bomb in Truck Kills 6, Hurts 49 in Kabul

A time bomb hidden in a truck exploded on a crowded downtown street Wednesday, killing six people and wounding 49 at the end of ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the Soviet-backed ruling party’s military coup, police said.

Lt. Gen. Saifullah, commander of the city’s police forces, said the truck carried Pakistani license plates although it was owned by an Afghan nationals. He blamed the attack on U.S.-armed Muslim rebels fighting the Marxist government of President Najibullah.

But other bombings that have plagued the capital of the Soviet-occupied country during the past year were linked to longstanding feuds between the Parcham and Khalq factions of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, Western diplomats said.

No group claimed responsibility for setting the truck bomb.

Radio Moscow blamed the blast on those who want to frustrate the Afghan peace pact signed recently in Geneva and opposed by the Afghan guerrillas.

Two foreign journalists, a United Press International reporter and a Japanese photographer, were seized by paramilitary troops while taking pictures of the scene and were detained in a police station for 1 1/2 hours of questioning before their release.

Under an agreement signed in Geneva on April 14, the estimated 115,000 Soviet troops in Afghanistan will begin a withdrawal on May 15.