Two killed in Afghan blasts

Two blasts killed a man and injured 26 others in a troubled city in eastern Afghanistan today, while concerns grew about an Australian journalist missing in the violence-plagued south.

Elsewhere, militants abducted 12 Afghans in a Taliban stronghold after burning their trucks, laden with supplies for an American base.

The explosions came a few minutes apart near security checkpoints in Jalalabad, 80 miles east of the capital, Kabul, in Nangarhar province.

A spokesman for the provincial government said 27 people were wounded – five police officers and 22 civilians, including five children. One man later died in hospital and four others were in critical condition.

The bombs were hidden in crates of fruit and shattered the windows of nearby homes and shops.

Officials were also searching for Carmela Barenowska, a journalist working for Australian broadcaster SBS.

The 35-year-old left a hotel in the southern city of Kandahar over the weekend in a red sports-utility vehicle with an Afghan assistant and driver.

It was unclear where they were headed. Calls to her satellite telephone were unsuccessful today.

In Canberra, a spokeswoman for the Australian foreign ministry said they were also trying to track her down. She said there was no evidence Barenowska had been kidnapped.