Afghan rebels attack president

Afghan ministers loyal to President Burhanuddin Rabbani fled from a meeting in the Prime Minister's office in central Kabul yesterday when rebel forces attacked the building with rockets, Reuter reports from Peshawar. The attack came as snow fell on the capital, bringing a lull in fierce factional fighting that has raged since New Year's Day.

The rebels, the forces of the Prime Minister, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and the northern warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostam, fired at the prime minister's office, held by soldiers loyal to the President.