15:10/06:01:2010

A female parliamentarian representing northern ‎ Badakhshan province escaped unhurt in a gun attack on their convoy on ‎ the Kabul-Jalalabad Highway, but her two guards were wounded, ‎ officials said on Saturday. ‎
Speaker of the Lower House, Mohammad Younus Qanuni on Saturday told the house Fozia Kofi was ‎ on her way to Kabul from Jalalabad, centre of eastern Nangarhar province, when gunmen attacked their seven vehicles convoy in the Wrikhmin area of ‎ Sarobi district in central Kabul province. ‎
He said Fozia and her wounded were airlifted in a helicopter to Kabul ‎ from the scene. ‎
Sarobi district chief Hazrat Mohammad Haqbeen also confirmed the ‎ attack. He told Pajhwok Afghan News the armed assault on the MP took ‎ place at about 9: 30am. ‎
Blaming Taliban insurgents for carrying out the attack, the district chief ‎ said more information would soon be provided to the media. ‎
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told this news agency over the ‎ telephone that their fighters ambushed the convoy near the Mullah Bor ‎ Jan shrine in Sarobi district. One of the vehicles was destroyed in the ‎ attack, killing five persons aboard the vehicle, he added. ‎
The lawmaker told media the insurgents used AK-47s, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to attack the convoy, which kept moving.
She had requested extra protection for her trip from the Interior Ministry, and five police vehicles joined two of her vehicles. Fozia says a policeman suffered a leg injury and another was slightly wounded in the attack. (PAN)