Gunmen fire on peacekeepers in Kabul

Gunmen fired AK-47 assault rifles at international peacekeepers patrolling the Afghan capital of Kabul, provoking a firefight with the security force, peacekeepers said today.

No one was injured in the exchange late Friday in western Kabul between about 30 gunmen and a British contingent of the peacekeeping force, said Lt. Col. Neal Peckham, spokesman for the force.

The gunmen fired 10 rounds of ammunition at two checkpoints belonging to the 18-nation, 4,500-strong International Security Assistance Force, which is responsible for security in Kabul following last year’s ousting of the Taliban.

‘‘We responded robustly,’’ Peckham told reporters.

Peacekeepers said 30 armed men fled after the gunfight, but that seven with assault rifles were later arrested.

Of those arrested, five were wearing police uniforms, one was in combat fatigues and one was in civilian dress. All were handed over to the interim government Interior Ministry.

Peckham said he did not know if the police uniforms meant the gunmen were policemen or if they were in disguise. He said their motives for firing on peacekeepers were unclear.

However, he said it is possible they were a band of criminals seeking to ‘‘carry out some sort of lawless activity’’.

It was also possible they were working for the interim administration and that the clash was caused by communications failures inside Afghanistan’s fledgling government, Peckham said.

In the southern Afghan city of Kandahar late Friday night, unidentified assailants fired a rocket at the office of Kandahar governor Gul Agha but missed their target, said Pashtoon, a local police official who uses only one name.

The rocket exploded on the grounds of a nearby mosque, and there were no injuries.

A group of US special forces members are staying in the governor’s office compound. A team of

US Army reservists involved in humanitarian projects is also working out of the complex.

Afghan police said they detained several suspects for questioning.

Attacks on international peacekeepers and the interim government have been occurring frequently.

In the last week two Chinese-made rockets were fired at a peacekeepers’ compound, and the defence minister was targeted in a bombing in southern Afghanistan that killed five people and injured more than 50.

Factional fighting erupted on Friday in the hills just west of Kabul the latest in a series of Afghan power struggles ahead of a planned national council that will choose a new government.

Meanwhile, south of the capital, US forces said Friday they had seized ammunition caches and captured several al Qaida suspects. They did not elaborate.