Fighting in Afghanistan’s Capital Kills 35; Presidential Palace Hit

Afghans took cover Saturday as guerrilla factions battled in the streets and rockets slammed into the shattered capital, killing at least 35 people, according to rebel sources.

Government sources said one rocket alone hit the presidential palace, killing eight people and injuring 12.

The fighting appeared to be the fiercest in the capital since President Najibullah was toppled in April.

Dozens of rockets rattled the city throughout the day as tanks dueled in the rutted streets. Huge plumes of smoke rose from the southern outskirts, where the fighting was concentrated.

One shell hit the Red Cross hospital but caused no casualties, hospital officials said.

Warplanes took off from Kabul’s besieged military airport as forces loyal to the 3-month-old government tried to quell the latest round of fighting.

Since ousting Najibullah, warring guerrilla factions have wiped out entire neighborhoods in the capital and killed or wounded at least 1,500 people, most of them civilians.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in Kabul,” Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Karzai said. “We’re just killing each other. It’s senseless.”

Government officials said the latest battle began after fighters loyal to Hezb-i-Wahadat, a coalition of eight Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim groups, and Ittihad-i-Islami guerrillas, who are heavily financed by Saudi Arabia, argued over the exchange of prisoners who were seized in a battle last month.

While pro-government forces tried to restore calm, fighters loyal to the fundamentalist Hezb-i-Islami faction rocketed downtown Kabul, Defense Ministry officials said.