Thousands Flee Devastation in Afghan Capital

The Afghan government failed to negotiate a cease-fire between rival guerrilla factions in Kabul on Sunday as thousands of residents fled the capital and shelling killed at least 11 more people.

Residents fled in trucks, buses and on foot. They left a ghost town devastated by rocket and shellfire, where smoke from rocket strikes billowed across the city.

State-run Kabul Television stopped broadcasting after four rockets hit its antenna on Saturday. It could remain off the air for up to 10 months, a broadcasting official said.

A Defense Ministry spokesman, quoted by official Kabul Radio, said 11 people died and 30 were wounded by Sunday’s rocketing on residential areas, which he blamed on the Hezb-i-Islami party of hard-line guerrilla leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The broadcast did not give the number of casualties from shelling between two other rival factions that took at least 35 lives on Saturday, including eight guards killed by a shell that hit the presidential palace.

Residents had described Saturday’s fighting as the fiercest since a coalition of Muslim rebel groups took power in April from the Communist regime of President Najibullah.