BBC News with Marion Marshall
Taliban militants have carried out a series of attacks in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul. Nato bases, the parliament and Western embassies all came under fire. Afghan security forces are still trying to clear heavily armed insurgents from several areas. The first explosions were in the morning, and exchanges of gunfire continued after
nightfall
. The Afghan government said a number of gunmen had been killed, but no civilians or members of the security forces. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, explained the motivation behind the attacks.
"These attacks were revenge for the brutal actions of foreigners, such as
urinating
on Taliban dead bodies, Koran burnings at Bagram airbase and killing of innocent civilians in Kandahar. This was one of the biggest attacks in terms of size so far this year, and it is still underway."
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he's concerned about the shelling of the Syrian city of Homs as more fighting was reported involving government forces and rebels. Earlier, a spokesman for the UN envoy Kofi Annan asked all sides to observe a ceasefire which came into force last Thursday. Ahmad Fawzi told the BBC that the truce was
precarious
and fragile, but it could
save Syria from
plunging back into the
abyss
as he put it.
"Both parties must be willing to end the violence and come to the negotiating table. We hope both sides will realise that this is a golden opportunity for them to put down their arms and to start talking. Negotiations are (is口误) the only way out of this bloody crisis that has lasted for one year."