Taliban rockets land near embassies in Kabul

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban militants fired at least nine rockets at the Afghan capital before dawn on Tuesday in the biggest attack of its kind for several years, some landing near major Western embassies, police and witnesses said.

Amid a serious escalation of violence before August 20 presidential elections, a provincial governor escaped unhurt after roadside bombs hit his convoy just west of the capital in an apparent assassination attempt, a spokesman said.

The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the elections and have called on Afghans to boycott the ballot, the second direct presidential poll since the Islamists were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001.

Violence across Afghanistan this year had already reached its worst level since 2001 and escalated further after thousands of U.S. Marines launched a major offensive in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand in the south last month.

Senior police officer Sayed Ghafar said two rockets landed in the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic area, home to both the U.S. and British embassies as well as the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

At least one rocket landed near a hospital close to the U.S. embassy, television pictures showed.

Other rockets landed in different areas of the city, shattering windows and startling residents in the pre-dawn darkness. One child was wounded.

Residents said Tuesday's rocket attack was the biggest for several years. It was also the first serious attack in Kabul in this year's upswing of violence, which has gradually spread out of Taliban strongholds in the south and east.

An ISAF spokeswoman said it was investigating the attack but did not yet have any information about what kind of rockets had been used.