Pak Prime Minister opens road in Afghanistan

Jalalabad (Afghanistan), Sept 13: Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrived in eastern Afghanistan today to open a Pakistani-funded road project hours after two rockets were fired into the area.

President Hamid Karzai flew from the capital, Kabul, under tight security to join Aziz for the inauguration of the 33 million dollar road project linking the city of Jalalabad with the Pakistani border and the Khyber pass to the east.

Relations between the two major U S allies in the ''war on terrorism'' have been strained over Afghan complaints that Taliban insurgents get help on the Pakistani side of the border.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf visited Kabul last week and both he and Karzai agreed to work more closely together to fight ''terrorism'', and in particular to stop militants crossing their common border.

Today, Karzai praised Pakistan's contribution to Afghanistan's reconstruction, stressing the importance of good ties.

Hours before the leaders arrived, two rockets were fired at Jalalabad. One landed near the airport while the second hit close to a court building in the heart of the city, a provincial spokesman said.

No one was hurt in the blasts, the spokesman said.

The Taliban have intensified their insurgency across Afghanistan this year, particularly in the south and east.

More than 2,400 people have been killed since January, the most bloody phase since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

REUTERS