(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-28 21:29

KABUL - Afghan security officials hunted Monday for suspects in the attempted assassination of President Hamid Karzai during an attack that killed three people.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai salutes just before the gun firing which he survived during a celebration in Kabul April 27, 2008. [Agencies]

Militants also wounded eight people when they fired rockets and automatic rifles at Karzai and other dignitaries during a Sunday ceremony in Kabul to mark the mujahedeen victory over the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, which sent Karzai and foreign ambassadors scurrying for cover. Three of the attackers were killed, the government said, but the Taliban said additional attackers were involved.

Sunday's strike launched so close to Karzai was a serious security lapse at a time when the Afghan police and army are expanding and the government is demanding greater control of security, still provided in much of the country by US and NATO-led forces.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the defense ministry, said that the authorities were investigating who could have helped the assailants perpetrate the attack.

The gunfire apparently came from a three-story guesthouse about 300 yards from the stands where Karzai was seated alongside Cabinet ministers and senior diplomats, who all escaped unharmed.

Residents said a 30-minute gunbattle broke out between security forces and gunmen holed up in the guesthouse.

On Monday, Afghan troops were deployed in parts of the city where government officials and foreigners live, while investigators still focused on the area where the attack was launched.

About 100 people were rounded up for questioning, an Afghan intelligence official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. Some of those detained have since been freed, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi.

Lawmaker Fazel Rahman Samkanai, who was about 30 yards from the president, was killed in the attack. Nasir Ahmad Latefi, a local Shiite leader, and a 10-year boy also died.

Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak said three attackers were killed by security forces, and assault rifles and machine guns were confiscated.

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