Afghan president safe after fleeing gunfire at Kabul event
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, is seen on U.S. Humvee as he heads to inspect the Afghan forces at a ceremony marking the 16th anniversary the defeat of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday April 27, 2008 Automatic gunfire broke out at the ceremony, forcing dignitaries including the Afghanistan's president to take cover. A defense ministry spokesman says President Hamid Karzai, all Cabinet members and foreign diplomats are safe. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) (Musadeq Sadeq - AP)
An Afghan soldier carries his company's flag as he runs during a ceremony marking the 16th
anniversary of the defeat of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 27, 2008. Automatic gunfire broke out at the ceremony, forcing dignitaries including Afghanistan's president to take cover. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) (Musadeq Sadeq - AP)
An Afghan soldier takes cover after a gun battle during a ceremony marking the 16th anniversary of the defeat of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 27, 2008. The automatic gunfire forced dignitaries including Afghanistan's president to take cover. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) (Musadeq Sadeq - AP)
Afghan soldiers run after a gun battle during a ceremony marking the 16th anniversary of defeat of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday April 27, 2008. Automatic gunfire broke out at the ceremony, forcing dignitaries including Afghanistan's president to take cover. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) (Musadeq Sadeq - AP)
Sunday, April 27, 2008; 9:48 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Suspected Taliban militants attacked a ceremony attended by the Afghan president on Sunday, unleashing automatic weapons fire that sent foreign dignitaries and senior members of the government fleeing for cover.
Three people, including a lawmaker, were killed and eight were wounded. President Hamid Karzai, Cabinet ministers and ambassadors escaped unharmed, the presidential palace said.
Karzai later appeared on television saying several suspects in the attack had been arrested.
He said that "the enemy of Afghanistan" tried to disrupt the ceremony but were thwarted by security forces.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had deployed six militants with suicide vests and guns to target the president. Spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said three had died.
A police official, who requested anonymity because of he was not authorized to speak to media, said security forces killed three gunmen who had opened fire from an apartment block not far from the ceremony and confiscated assault rifles and machine guns. Government officials could not immediately confirm that information.
Hundreds of people fled in chaos as shots rang out, just as the national anthem ended at a ceremony to mark the 16th anniversary of Afghanistan's victory over the Soviet invasion.
The gunfire appeared to come from ruined houses about few hundred yards from where the VIPs were seated. Security forces deployed elsewhere opened fire at the houses.
Karzai was escorted from scene, surrounded by bodyguards, in one of four black Landcruisers. A U.S. embassy official said U.S. Ambassador William Wood also escaped unharmed.
Along with lawmaker Fazel Rahman Samkanai, a local Shiite leader and a 10-year-old boy also died in the attack, officials said.
"President Karzai condemns this act and asks for all the people to remain calm," a statement from the presidential palace said.
Karzai, who has led Afghanistan since soon after a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime in 2001, has been targeted by assassins before and is constantly shadowed by a phalanx of bodyguards.
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