Children killed in Afghan attack

At least seven children have been killed and 34 injured after a rocket hit their school in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, officials say.

The rocket landed in the grounds of a mosque where the school was located near Asadabad, the provincial capital.

Two other rockets were fired at an Afghan army base in the province. It is not known if there are any casualties.

The province borders Pakistan and is a hotbed of militant violence. Attacks have soared in recent months.

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Deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Hassan Farahi said two rockets had been fired by "enemies of Afghanistan" at the mosque.

"One hit the compound of a primary school where children including girls were busy studying in the yard," he told Reuters news agency.

A BBC correspondent at the scene says he heard heavy artillery being fired from a nearby American military base towards the area from where the rockets were fired.

The injured were taken to a hospital at the US base.

Attack condemned

Hundreds of children, between the ages of six and 16, are said to have been in the school at the time of the attack.

Screams were coming from everywhere. I was crying Omar Sahib, 12 Student

"I saw so many children on the ground. Many were not moving," a 12-year-old student, Omar Sahib, told the Associated Press news agency.

"Screams were coming from everywhere. I was crying."

Local villagers are said to be furious at the attack, which has also been condemned by the US military and the Afghan government.

"This despicable act clearly demonstrates the enemy's complete disregard for the Afghan people," US military commander Maj Gen Benjamin C Freakly said in a statement.

"The Afghan national and coalition forces will hunt down these terrorists and ensure they're held responsible."

It is not clear who is behind the attack, although local police and officials are blaming the Taleban.

The Taleban have burned down several schools in southern Afghanistan but it is not clear if the school in Kunar was intended to be the target of the rocket attack.