Just days after surviving an assassination attempt, Afghan President Hamid Karzai departed Kabul for the United States. A suspected bomb blast Sunday in the southern Afghan city of Khost injured 10 people.
President Karzai is to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush and address the U.N. General Assembly. He will also take part in memorial observances for the victims of last year's September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
On Saturday the Afghan president traveled under heavy security to the Panjshir valley, north of Kabul to attend a memorial service for Ahmed Shah Masood. The northern alliance commander was assassinated last September 9 by two alleged al-Qaida terrorists.
Tensions remain high in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan following the assassination attempt against Mr. Karzai and a car bomb attack that killed more than 20 people on Thursday.
On Sunday a suspected small bomb blast in the southern city of Khost injured about 10 people outside a store selling video equipment. Clashes between rival clans north of the city during the past several days have also left more than 10 dead.