20 killed in Afghanistan blast

A powerful explosion ripped through an Afghan construction firm's building in Jalalabad today, killing at least 20 people and injuring 85 others.

A local military commander, Hazrat Ali, said the blast also damaged surrounding homes as far as 500 metres away. He said he believed it was caused by a car bomb.

"The number of dead will probably rise because of people dying in hospital," he said.

The explosion occurred at a building of the Afghan Construction and Logistics Unit, which was founded as a non-governmental organisation, but has since become a private firm.

The apparent bombing came after a grenade attack this morning which killed three nurses in Pakistan.

The women were emerging from morning prayers and were killed in the grenade attack on a Christian hospital chapel. Up to 26 other hospital staff and patients were wounded in the latest round of terrorism.

The attack, in Taxila, just outside the capital Islamabad, occurred minutes after the service. Women and children traditionally exit first, according to Dr. Ernest Lall, a former hospital director.

The three attackers, one of them armed with a pistol, ran through the gate of the hospital grounds, locked two watchmen in a guard booth, then rushed at the women. Police said the explosives were tied to the body of one attacker, who died in the blasts which followed.

Windows were shattered and two large holes were gouged in the pavement. Shoes belonging to some of the victims were seen scattered outside.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered in front of the hospital's locked gates, while inside the hospital, women wailed and staff hugged each other or stood in shock. "I was still inside the church when I heard explosions," said staff member Margif Tariq.

"Window panes were falling on us, everyone was crying, everyone was in pain. When I came out, I saw dozens of women lying on the pavement and most of them were bleeding." Erik Masih, one of the security guards locked in the booth, said he tried to stop the men but "one of them pulled out a pistol and pushed me inside".

He went on: "I was inside the room for a few seconds when I heard the sound of explosions. At that moment, the man who was guarding me outside ran away toward the main gate." Police confirmed that one of the assailants was killed while the two others fled.

The Taxila hospital receives funds from the Presbyterian Church in the United States and other Christian groups. All those killed and wounded were Pakistanis, and mostly women. Two are critically wounded.

Meanwhile, al Qaeda forces have

regrouped and set up two bases inside Pakistan, from which to launch a " massive" strike against the Afghan government, Afghan military chiefs say.

Intelligence sources say that most of the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership, including Osama bin Laden, have been seen moving into northern Pakistan in recent weeks.

An Afghan military spokesman said: "They are just waiting for the command to start operations."