2 Arrested in Killing of Chinese Workers

Authorities arrested two suspects and were seeking three others Friday in the killing of 11 Chinese road workers in northern Afghanistan, the deadliest attack on foreign civilians in the nation since the fall of the Taliban three years ago.

Farther south, insurgents launched a barrage of rockets at a heavily guarded convoy of U.N. and Afghan officials in a stronghold of Taliban-led militants but caused no injuries. More than 30 vehicles were picking their way through the mountains of Gomal, a lawless district in Paktika province, 140 miles south of Kabul, the capital, when they were attacked.

The vehicles were taking Paktika Gov. Haji Gulab Mangal, U.N. officials and American military officers on a mission to prepare for government administrators to return to the province. Several journalists, including a contingent from ABC News, were accompanying the convoy.

Poor security has prevented the United Nations from registering voters in much of southern and eastern Afghanistan, hampering preparations for national elections slated for September.

Authorities also face growing problems in the north after Thursday’s slaughter of Chinese contractors working on a road project. Assailants crept up to the workers’ tents in a desert camp about 120 miles north of Kabul and shot them as they slept. An Afghan guard was also killed.

Gen. Mohammed Daoud, the military commander in Kunduz province, said two suspects were picked up Friday in connection with the killing and three more were being sought. He gave no details.