KABUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's interior minister survived a rocket and small arms ambush by suspected Taliban insurgents to the east of the capital Kabul on Wednesday, a ministry official said.

Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel was travelling through the Tangi Abrishim area of Laghman province when the attackers opened fire on his convoy with a single rocket, then followed up with a volley of small arms fire, the official said.

The minister's guards returned fire, but there was no news of any casualties in the exchange and it was not clear if the attackers knew he was in the convoy, said the official, who declined to be named.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the Taliban relaunched their fight to oust the pro-Western Afghan government and eject foreign forces from the country two years ago.

While NATO and Afghan troops routinely beat Taliban forces in battle, the insurgency shows few signs of abating with daily clashes across the country and a suicide bomb campaign undermining public faith in security. (Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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