``Two people, one of them a 10-year-old boy, were killed and nine others were wounded,'' Health Minister Mohammad Amin Fatimie is quoted as saying by AFP. ``Three other people were treated for minor injuries and released.''

The Defense Ministry said earlier that the dead man was a Kabul-based leader of a minority tribe, AFP reported. Among the wounded were two parliamentarians, four soldiers and several security guards, the minister told the news agency.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is leading international efforts to stabilize the country with its force of 43,000 soldiers. Alliance leaders in April pledged more combat troops to turn back the Taliban-led insurgency and told the Afghan government to start building up the national army to secure peace.

``The national police and army acted swiftly and are doing their job,'' the government said today in an e-mailed statement.

Karzai was escorted to safety from the parade ground after gunfire hit a stage where the President and Afghan leaders were viewing the parade in front of a crowd of about 3,000 people, AFP said. The U.S. and U.K. ambassadors were among dignitaries escorted away by security forces, the BBC said on its Web site.

The Taliban movement claimed responsibility for today's attack, AFP said, citing a spokesman for the group, Zabihullah Mujahed. Karzai said in a televised address that some men involved in the attack have been arrested and ordered an investigation.

Afghan civilians are increasingly at risk as the Taliban insurgency spreads to eastern and western provinces, the International Committee of the Red Cross said April 9.