Khoja Kotkai, Afghanistan ? Tank fire boomed Saturday through a barren valley as a turf battle raged for a second day just west of the Afghan capital. In Kabul itself, British peacekeepers traded fire with gunmen, and in the south a rocket just missed the offices of the Kandahar governor.

The unrest came only days before Afghanistan’s deposed monarch is due to return from exile to help lead the devastated nation toward peace after 23 years of war. An Italian Foreign Ministry official said former king Mohammad Zaher Shah, who lived in exile in Rome, was due in the middle of the week in Afghanistan.

An Afghan fighter loyal to the interim government carries rockets on his shoulder in Khoja Kotkai, 25 miles west of Kabul, Afghanistan. Plumes of smoke rose Saturday from the rocky hills west of Kabul, as forces loyal to the interim Afghan government lobbed shells at positions held by a local warlord.

The fighting in Khoja Kotkai, 30 miles west of Kabul, pitted two ethnic Pashtun commanders against each other for control of the valley.

Officials of interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai’s administration, which took power in December after U.S. bombs and Northern Alliance troops and ousted the Taliban, played down the skirmish between forces loyal to Gen. Zafar Uddin and those of his rival, Nangialai.

“It’s impossible in three to four months that everybody joins hands to sing a nice song,” said Tourism Minister Zalmay Rassoul, whose predecessor, Abdul Rahman, was beaten to death in broad daylight Feb. 14 at Kabul airport.

Civilians seemed completely unworried by the fighting. A steady stream of buses, trucks and taxis packed with people continued to flow across the dirt road through the valley the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar.

In the capital, about 30 gunmen fired AK-47 assault rifles at a British contingent of international peacekeepers Friday night, sparking a firefight, said Lt. Col. Neal Peckham, spokesman for the force. No one was injured.

Peacekeepers said the armed men fled but that seven of them were later arrested. Five were wearing Afghan police uniforms, one was in combat fatigues and one was in civilian dress. All were handed over to the interim government.

In the southern city of Kandahar late Friday night, a rocket missed the office of Gov. Gul Agha, exploding on the grounds of a nearby mosque, said Pashtoon, a local police official who uses only one name. No one was hurt.

A group of U.S. special forces members are staying in the governor’s office compound.

Afghan police said they detained several suspects for questioning.

Attacks on international peacekeepers and the interim government have been frequent. In the last week, two Chinese-made rockets were fired at a peacekeeper’s compound, and the defense minister was targeted in a bombing that killed five people.

In other developments Saturday:

l In northern Afghanistan, villagers searched for survivors and victims in the rubble a day after a powerful earthquake shook the region. Aid workers scrambled to the region by helicopter, car and horseback as officials said at least 59 people were killed and 200 injured.

l U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers began a weeklong visit to Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.