A explosion in the center of the Afghan capital Kabul damaged a Defense Ministry apartment block not far from the heavily guarded U.S. embassy late Saturday, but only two light injuries were reported. Two apparent blasts within a few seconds of each other shattered a calm night in the city just after 9 p.m. They came less than a month after a huge car bomb exploded in central Kabul, killing 26 people, and a failed attempt on the life of President Hamid Karzai in the southern city of Kandahar.

Major Gordon Mackenzie, a Scottish spokesman for the 20-nation International Security Assistance Force charged with security in Kabul, said there appeared to have been one explosion, followed by an echo. He said there had been only two light injuries reported.

But the incident underscored the fragility of Karzai's U.S.-backed administration. It came just ahead of a delayed visit by U.S. Undersecretary for Defense Douglas Feith.

Feith had been due to visit Kabul Saturday but had rescheduled it to Sunday, citing technical problems with his plane in Pakistan.

Police radio initially said there had been a second explosion not far from the airport, but Mackenzie said this had been ruled out.

"We have always said terrorist attacks were possible, but this was a minor incident and does not undermine the overall security in Kabul," he said. "We have no reason to believe this was an attack on ISAF. It appears to have been an attack on a Afghan government building."

Another ISAF spokesman, Squadron Leader Terry Hay from New Zealand, said the blast appeared to have been caused by a device placed at the foot of the fence of the apartment block.

APARTMENTS NEAR ISAF HEADQUARTERS

The apartments are about 300 meters (yards) from ISAF headquarters and about 200 meters from the fortified U.S. embassy and a hotel billet for U.S. Special Forces operating in Afghanistan in pursuit of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

A Defense Ministry official at the scene said the explosion appeared to have been caused by about 11-13 pounds of dynamite or C-4 explosive hidden in a rubbish tip.

Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak said the explosion was caused by a device placed in a drain. He said authorities had seized a some explosive missiles in the city, but gave no details.

A Reuters photographer saw a small boy being carried from the apartments with a slightly cut foot, which could have been caused by glass from shattered windows. Reporters saw a crater about yards across and about a similar depth.

Hay said it was too early to say who was responsible.

He said German ISAF bomb disposal teams would examine the building but might delay until daylight for fear of booby traps.

The bloody car bomb attack that rocked Kabul on September 5 was preceded by the explosion of a smaller device which officials said was attached to a bicycle. This attracted security forces and bystanders, ensuring more were killed.

Karzai came to power after U.S. forces in pursuit of bin Laden's network, which is blamed for the September 11 attacks last year on New York and Washington, helped drive its Taliban allies from power.

Karzai himself was in Saudi Arabia Saturday where he met the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, during a Gulf tour aimed at gaining financial aid to rebuild Afghanistan.

PHOTO CAPATION

A U.S. soldier photographs the scene where an explosive device went off Saturday in a drain near an Afghan military compund in Kabul, Afghanistan Sunday, Sept. 29, 2002. The blast shattered the windows of a nearby apartment complex and caused four minor injuries. It's was not clear who was behind the explosion for now. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
- Sep 29 5:09 AM