Rebel Missiles Kill 23 in Kabul, Afghan Radio Says

Afghan guerrillas fired missiles into Kabul on Monday evening, killing 23 people, the official Kabul Radio reported Tuesday.

The radio, monitored in Islamabad, said the guerrillas fired 17 surface-to-surface missiles at several sites in the capital.

The radio said 28 people were injured.

The casualty figures were much higher than those given Monday night by the Soviet news agency Tass, which said 11 people were killed and 12 were injured.

The attack came only six days before an estimated 115,000 Soviet troops in Afghanistan are due to begin pulling out under U.N.-mediated accords.

A Politburo meeting of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan on Tuesday directed security forces to ensure safety in the capital and Kabul province, the radio said.

Soviets Making Deals

Meanwhile, Western diplomats in Pakistan said Tuesday that the Soviet forces are cutting deals with guerrillas to secure their passage out of Afghanistan.

Reports from Kabul paint a clearer picture of a Soviet strategy that seems to center on the Afghan capital and a withdrawal north along the Kabul-Salang highway toward the River Oxus and back home, the diplomats said.

They said private Afghan truck drivers reported that the Soviet command has suspended their permits for the Salang highway for 22 days after May 14.

They said the move seems to be intended to reduce congestion when the large amounts of men and material that have been building up in Kabul over the past few weeks start to retreat.

Western military experts say a Soviet tank division of 3,000 vehicles and 11,500 men needs at least 19 miles of road to deploy.

The Salang road passes through a 4.8-mile-tunnel, which is a perfect site for an ambush, they said.

The Soviets have made a deal with guerrillas near the large Bagram air base just north of Kabul to stop bombing nearby civilian areas, if the guerrillas stopped rocket attacks on the air base, the diplomats said.

Moving to Cities

The Western intelligence reports and guerrillas returning from the battle also show Soviet and government troops gradually abandoning positions south of a Jalalabad-Kabul-Kandahar axis and re-forming at these larger cities.

The Soviet command also appears to be increasing airlifts into Kabul from the south and southeast fronts, diplomats said. About 40 Soviet transports arrive in Kabul every night, they said.