Insurgents on Thursday fired a rocket near the venue of a major meeting in the Afghan capital Kabul discussing the presence of US troops after NATO combat forces leave in 2014.
The strike, which was claimed by the Taliban, injured one person but highlighted lingering security fears at the four-day loya jirga event which brings together around 2,000 elders from around the warring country.
“It’s apparently rocket shots fired into Kabul,” said the city’s police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi after witnesses reported two loud explosions shortly after 8:00 am (0330 GMT), before day two of the loya jirga started.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said one of the rockets landed by the side of a road in an area next to the Intercontinental Hotel, which an AFP reporter said was roughly 500 metres (yards) from the jirga venue.
One civilian was “slightly injured” by the other rocket, Sediqqi said, which landed several kilometres (miles) from the jirga venue.
In a text message sent to journalists, the Taliban claimed it launched two rockets at the loya jirga tent late Wednesday.
