More than 20 people were killed and many others wounded near the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Friday in an explosion at an office of a non-governmental organization, an Afghan news agency reported. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said the explosion happened at the offices of the Afghan Construction and Logistics Unit six miles west of the eastern city. It said the NGO was involved in road construction.

In a report from Jalalabad, it said more than 50 people were killed or wounded and more than 20 bodies had been retrieved.
It said the wounded were being taken to hospitals in Jalalabad.

AIP said the explosion could have been caused by the detonation of explosives stored at the unit for use in road construction.

DIVIDED LOYALTY FEARS IN AFGHANISTAN

Meanwhile and as the United States seeks to build a national army for Afghanistan, commanders worry that deep-seated ethnic loyalties still exert a stronger pull among their soldiers than allegiance to the government in Kabul.

The United States and its allies hope the national army will help President Hamid Karzai get control over warlords and regional leaders across this fractured country and prevent remnants of al-Qaida and the Taliban from staging a comeback.

A viable national army would allow the United States to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan sooner without fearing that the country would slide back into chaos.

Overcoming ethnic and regional loyalties will take time, commanders say.

PHOTO CAPTION

Director of Afghanistan's intelligence service, Amrullah Saleh, left, and Afghan explosives expert, Fiaz Mohammad , right, show journalists in Kabul,Thursday Aug. 8, 2002, explosive devices found in a car that a would-be assasin was traveling in when he was apprehended last Monday. The would-be car bomber who was intercepted after a traffic accident in the heart of Kabul told interrogators he was assigned by al-Qaida to assassinate President Hamid Karzai or, failing that, to kill foreigners in the Afghan capital.(AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
- Aug 08 4:55 PM ET