KABUL: Taliban militants fired at least nine rockets at the Afghan capital before dawn yesterday in the biggest attack of its kind for several years, some landing near major Western embassies, police and witnesses said.

Amid an escalation of violence before Aug 20 presidential elections, two rockets struck the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic area, home to both the US and British embassies as well as the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the elections and have called on Afghans to boycott the ballot, the second direct presidential poll since the Islamists were toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001.