VOA常速英语:Rocket Hits Near International Luxury Hotel in Kabul, Injuring 4

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Afghan officials say a rocket hit near a luxury hotel in the capital Kabul late Saturday, injuring four people.  Earlier, police in northeastern Afghanistan said two back-to-back roadside bombs killed two teenagers and wounded two others. 

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zamary Bashary tells VOA that a rocket hit the road between a hospital and the Serena Hotel, a popular residence in Kabul for visiting foreigners.

"The police have been dispatched to the area to investigate and verify from which side the rocket had been launched," he said.

Militants have targeted the heavily guarded Serena Hotel in the past.

The hotel is located in the center of Kabul, near the presidential palace, government ministries and embassies.

Rockets fired at the hotel forced more than 100 people into an underground bunker three weeks ago on the same day that gunmen killed several foreign U.N. staff members in a separate attack on a Kabul guesthouse.

In early 2008, Taliban militants stormed the hotel in a coordinated assault that killed at least eight people.

Meanwhile, police officials in Taloqan, the provincial capital of Takhar province, say two roadside bombs exploded within minutes of each other in a busy section of the city.

Violence in Afghanistan this year has been at the highest level since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban-led government in 2001.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai used his inaugural address Thursday in another bid to reach out to militants to lay down their weapons and join in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.