1,000 Reported Dead, Injured in Kabul Siege

Dissident guerrillas launched their heaviest rocket bombardment yet on the capital Monday, leaving hundreds dead or wounded and others scrambling to flee the city.

Defense Ministry officials said at least 1,000 people were killed or wounded before government forces were able to quell what diplomats called the worst pounding of Kabul since the Afghan civil war began 14 years ago.

There was no breakdown of the dead and wounded.

The Defense Ministry blamed Hezb-i-Islami rebels, fundamentalists led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who have been locked in a power struggle with other factions since Muslim insurgents replaced President Najibullah in April.

More than 650 rockets rained down on Kabul in the first 90 minutes of the assault, which began at first light from positions held by the Hezb-i-Islami to the south of the city and lasted 12 hours, one military expert said.

Thousands of frightened residents commandeered donkeys, horse-drawn carts and battered trucks to flee the capital during the bombardment. Several witnesses said they saw dozens of bodies partially buried in the rubble of neighborhoods destroyed by the incessant bombardment.

On Sunday, two rockets hit the Red Cross pharmacy, destroying all drugs and antibiotics and wiping out supplies for local hospitals. An earlier rocket destroyed the Red Cross sterilization unit.

“Most of the deaths are kids with bullets in the legs or injuries that would be simple to operate on,” said Red Cross spokesman Jean-Michel Monod. “Children die very fast without surgery.” He appealed to the factions to avoid hitting hospitals.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said Monday that two Afghani U.N. staff members were killed in a rocket attack Sunday.

“It is crucial that the parties to the conflict lay down their arms and begin a dialogue at once . . ,” he said.

Muslim factions are bitterly divided along religious, ethnic and tribal lines, and Hekmatyar and his forces maintain the new government is not sufficiently Islamic.