Rocket Explodes Outside Hotel in Kabul

[Judi Lynn]

Rocket Explodes Outside Hotel in Kabul

By AMIR SHAH
Associated Press Writer

November 22, 2003, 11:56 AM EST


KABUL, Afghanistan -- An explosion went off in the garden of an upscale hotel frequented by foreigners in the Afghan capital Saturday, shattering windows and damaging a nearby wall but causing no casualties, authorities said.

Maj. Kevin Arata, spokesman for international forces keeping security in the capital, said an quick-reaction team of peacekeepers was on the scene at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Dozens of police vehicles also swarmed the area.

Arata said it was not clear whether the blast was caused by a rocket or bomb. "It could have been a rocket or some sort of explosive device," Arata said. "There was a lot of broken glass and some minor structural damage, but no injuries." He had said earlier that authorities believed a rocket had struck near the building. (snip)

(snip) The Intercontinental is one of Kabul's few upscale hotels and a favorite location for visiting businessmen and journalists. The hotel, which emerged relatively unscathed from Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s, dominates a hilltop above Kabul. (snip/...)

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