Kabul Peacekeepers Come Under Fire

For the first time in a month, international peacekeepers came under fire while patrolling in the Afghan capital, the multinational force said Saturday. The gunfire was believed to have come from a compound housing militiamen from the Afghan alliance that helped the United States oust the Taliban regime.

No one was hurt when the burst of more than 10 rounds struck the ground and a wall just 30 yards from an armored patrol of German peacekeepers, said spokesmen for the multinational force charged with keeping order in Kabul.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon near a compound of the Northern Alliance, a militia composed largely of ethnic Tajiks and other northern Afghan minorities that was aligned with the U.S.-led coalition in the war.

The shots, fired in a district of eastern Kabul, appeared to be intended to draw the attention of peacekeepers but were not aimed to hit them, said Lt. Col. Ludwig Gedicke, a spokesman for the German contingent in the force.

Flight Lt. Tony Marshall, a British spokesman for the peacekeeping force, said the gunfire was believed to have come from the compound.

After the shots were fired, the peacekeepers jumped from their vehicles and searched the rooms of the nearby compound but found only an elderly man, Gedicke said.

In two earlier incidents, in late February, British peacekeepers reported that they came under fire briefly in western Kabul. No peacekeepers were injured; the gunmen were not apprehended.

In other developments Saturday:

* Interim Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai visited U.S.-led coalition troops for the first time since his government was installed in December. He was welcomed with rock and country music at Bagram air base north of Kabul.

* Dust storms and hail hampered relief efforts in the northern part of the country, slowing aid workers delivering food and tents to villagers who survived an earthquake Monday that killed at least 600 people.