2 rocket attacks near Afghan transition ceremony

Mehtar LamTwo rockets struck close to a transition ceremony being held in the eastern Afghan province of Laghman on Tuesday, where foreign troops were handing control over to local forces. An AFP reporter at the ceremony said the rockets struck towards the end of proceedings and landed some two kilometres away from where it was being held the town of Mehtar Lam and attended by senior officials. ISAF and Afghan officials had no immediate details of the attack. In an earlier statement praising the transition, the Ministry of Interior made no mention of the attack. "Following the process of transferring security responsibilities to Afghan Forces, a ceremony was held today morning in Mehtar Lam city in the provincial government office of Laghman," said a ministry statement. It was the second of seven areas to hand responsibility to national forces, in a process due to finish by the end of 2014, the deadline for the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops. It said the head of the transition authority, Ashraf Ghani, had attended along with the minister of rural development, the deputy interior minister and various other ministries and provincial government figures. Deputy interior minister Abdul Rahman Rahman "called it a positive step towards self-sufficiency and accepting responsibility by Afghan forces", said the statement.