Kabul, Afghanistan ? Peacekeepers in the Afghan capital came under fire for the first time Saturday, their commander said. Interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai, speaking at the grave of a slain government minister, prayed for an end to “the culture of the knife and the gun.”

The shooting was the latest in violence this week that has raised security worries in the capital, which has been calm since Karzai’s government was inaugurated in December.

An unidentified British paratrooper, a member of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, shakes hands with an Afghan boy while on foot patrol recently in Kabul. Six British peacekeepers came under fire Saturday in Kabul.

The six British peacekeepers returned fire after their observation post was shot at early Saturday, the commander said. Later, a patrol found one person dead in a nearby house, he said.

Also, a group of Afghan civilians in Kabul reported they were shot at about 1 a.m. Saturday near a peacekeepers’ post as they were trying to drive a pregnant woman to the hospital. A 19-year-old man was killed.

It was not immediately clear if the two incidents were linked, or if the two posts were the same.

On Thursday, a Cabinet minister was killed in an attack at Kabul’s airport. Karzai blamed a conspiracy within his own government. On Friday, more than 50 people were hurt in a club-swinging melee outside a soccer match organized by the peacekeepers.

Culture of violence

At Saturday’s funeral for Abdul Rahman, the slain minister of aviation and tourism, Karzai called for an end to “the culture of the knife and the gun” in Afghanistan.

“With God’s help in the future, no one will do these kinds of things any more,” a somber Karzai told the crowd of several thousand people gathered in the muddy cemetery.

The dead man’s brother, Naser, appealed to Karzai: “Please capture the people who did this.”

Details were scarce on the shooting early Saturday involving the peacekeepers. British Col. Richard Barrons, the peacekeepers’ chief of staff, did not say what time his men’s observation post was fired on, or in what part of the capital the incident occurred.

No injuries

Barrons reported no injuries among the British soldiers, and said they were “extracted” after returning fire.

He also gave no details on the dead person, who he said was found by a joint patrol of peacekeepers and Afghan police in a nearby house along with five injured people. A car damaged by gunfire was also found.

Barrons said the injured were hospitalized, and that their injuries did not come from gunfire.

Kabul resident Masrolah Yaqeibi said he and four others were fired on as they borrowed a neighbor’s car to take a pregnant woman to the maternity hospital.

“We wanted to move the car … and then they started shooting at us,” he told Associated Press Television News. “Due to that, one boy died and three others were injured. We don’t have any weapons we are civilians.”

A neighbor, Karim Ehaeuri, said he was awakened by shooting and the sound of women and children crying.

“I came at 8 o’clock in the morning and I saw blood,” he said, adding that he saw Western troops in the area.

An observation post atop a building that neighbors said was used by peacekeepers was visible from the street. It appeared to be vacant when APTN spoke to witnesses Saturday evening.

Asked about the report of civilians who were shot at, Jonathan Turner, a spokesman for the security force, said he had no further details on the dead person found in the area. He underlined that British troops opened fire “because they were fired at first.”

“They certainly would not have opened fire first,” he said. “There was definitely fire directed at their position.”

The investigation was also continuing into the death of Rahman, the Interior Ministry said, but no new arrests were made Saturday. Three men were in custody and three high-ranking government officials who apparently escaped to Saudi Arabia were being sought.

No official request

However, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef said the kingdom had not received any official request from Afghanistan to apprehend the three, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. He also said authorities checking identification at the border hadn’t come across anyone.

The three men believed to have left for Saudi Arabia were identified as Gen. Abdullah Jan Tawhidi, the deputy intelligence chief; Gen. Kalandar Beg, a Defense Ministry official; and a Justice Ministry official identified only as Halim.