Explosions in Kabul Leave 9 Dead, 20 Wounded

KABUL, Afghanistan — Three accidental explosions in the Afghan capital have left nine people dead and more than 20 wounded, including some counternarcotics police, officials said yesterday.

A policeman dropped a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded as his unit set off from Kabul yesterday on an opium poppy eradication mission north of the city, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Zemarai Bashary, said.

Three policeman were killed in the blast, an Interior Ministry statement said. At least eight others were wounded, the chief of the hospital where the injured were taken for treatment, Dr. Ahmad Zia Aftali, said.

However, a policeman who witnessed the blast and goes by one name, Khodadad, said more than 15 were hurt.

Also yesterday, four children died and one was were wounded when an old artillery shell they were playing with exploded, Mr. Bashary said.

Another police official, Sayed Ekramudin, said two civilians were killed and 13 others wounded in an explosion Sunday at a refuse dump in the city's northern outskirts.

Mr. Ekramudin said a truck had hit a buried explosive.

After decades of war, Afghanistan remains littered with unexploded ordnance.

Separately, insurgents shot at and hit a military-contracted civilian helicopter yesterday in eastern Afghanistan, forcing the aircraft to land in Kunar province, a statement from the American-led coalition said.

"The aircrew inspected the aircraft and found one bullet hole that did minor damage to the helicopter," the statement said.

No one was injured inside the helicopter, it said.

Initially the coalition said a plane was hit but later revised that information saying it was a helicopter.

In the country's south, NATO troops killed two insurgents and arrested four others during a clash Saturday, the alliance said in a statement.