The World : Rockets Kill 50 in Kabul

Rocket salvos fired into Kabul by Afghan rebels during the past week have killed at least 50 people and damaged the U.S. and French embassies in the fiercest barrage to hit the Afghan capital in four years, Western diplomats in New Delhi said. They also quoted a “reliable diplomat” as saying that 15 to 20 Soviet soldiers were killed in a July 18 guerrilla ambush in Logar province, about 20 miles south of Kabul. “If true, this would be the largest Soviet loss since the beginning of the (Soviet troop) withdrawal,” one diplomat said. The diplomats also reported no evidence to back up a statement Saturday by Pakistan President Zia ul-Haq that Moscow plans to dispatch some 12,000 fresh troops to defend Kabul from the U.S.-backed resistance.