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Old Aug 19th, 2003, 02:00 PM        Meanwhile, in Afghanistan...
Afghans Mark Independence; 9 Cops Killed


By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan - War-ruined Afghanistan (news - web sites) celebrated its Independence Day on Tuesday amid one of the bloodiest weeks in a year, with heavily armed guerrillas killing at least nine policemen in the latest in a string of ambushes.

There were also fresh assaults on aid workers. A group of 20 gunmen raided a mine-clearing group's compound in a province west of Kabul, beating five employees with rifle butts.

During a speech to mark Afghanistan's 84th anniversary of independence from Britain, President Hamid Karzai urged his countrymen to take responsibility for rebuilding a nation wasted by nearly a quarter of century of fighting and dependent on foreign aid.

"It is the duty of everybody to launch a holy war to reconstruct this nation," Karzai told a crowd of several thousand that included Cabinet ministers and diplomats. "We must try harder. We must catch up with the rest of the world."

Karzai made no mention of the stepped up guerrilla activity. Visitors to the stadium were searched by Karzai's American bodyguards, as well as Afghan intelligence agents and police. Outside, NATO (news - web sites)-led peacekeepers stood guard in armored vehicles mounted with machine-guns.

In the last week, Afghanistan has been battered by an onslaught from insurgents, who are believed to be a mix of guerrillas from the ousted Taliban regime, al-Qaida fighters and supporters of renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

This follows reports that the Taliban's fugitive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has improved coordination among his commanders, dividing Afghanistan into military areas of control.

"These new attacks are a result of their reorganizing," Hatiqulluh Luddin, a government commander in Logar province said. "Now they even have finance officers to support their operations," Luddin said.

Last Wednesday, at least 64 people were killed in scattered violence around the country — some of that linked to feuding warlords. Over the weekend, at least 26 police and insurgents were killed when huge groups of guerrillas attacked two police stations in eastern Paktika province.

On Monday, suspected Taliban insurgents struck again, killing at least nine police in an ambush in Logar province's Kharwar village, about 55 miles south of Kabul, Luddin said.

About 12 gunmen opened fire with shoulder-fired rockets and machine-guns, destroying the vehicle. It was not clear if there were any survivors.

Security forces combing through the area after the attack arrested seven people, Luddin said.

In the southern city of Kandahar, an explosion, which was an apparent accident, ripped through the home of Karzai's brother, wounding a house servant who was moving arms stored in the basement. Ahmed Wali Karzai said the munitions and explosives that caused the blast had been confiscated in an earlier security raid.

"It was a bad incident. But it was not a terrorist attack," Ahmed Wali Karzai told The Associated Press.

During the evening, about 3,000 people attended independence celebrations at Kandahar's main soccer stadium, once used by the Taliban for public executions. No violence was reported at the event, attended by hundreds of women, who under Taliban rule were barred from attending such festivities.

Also on Monday, a group of 20 armed men raided a compound belonging to the Mine Dog Center in Wardak province, just west of Kabul, said Shahab Aqili, the Afghan mine-clearing group's director. The men beat five employees, fired a rocket-propelled grenade at one of their vehicles and set a mine-clearing ambulance ablaze. They also searched the compound, but it was unclear what they were looking for, Aqili said.

Eight armed men were arrested Tuesday in connection with the incident, Wardak Police Chief Abdul Ahmad Durani said.



In the northern province of Badakhshan, a gunman fired on a vehicle belonging to a British charity Save the Children-UK on Sunday, said Sue Watkins, the aid group's director in Kabul. Two Afghans were lightly hurt by flying glass, she said.
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