Afghanistan attack: Suicide bomber kills Kandahar deputy governor
Deputy governor had left his home when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up.
KANDAHAR:
The deputy governor of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province was killed by a suicide bomber on Saturday, the province’s administrative chief said.
“Deputy Governor Abdul Latif Ashna had just left his home and was on his way to his office when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near his vehicle,” said Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa.
One of his bodyguards and his driver were wounded, as were two passers-by, he added. A fifth person was slightly hurt and did not need hospital treatment.“This is the work of enemies of Afghanistan, the Taliban. They kill anyone who is working for Afghanistan’s future, to rebuild the country,” the governor added.
A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack. “One of our jihadists...blew up his motorcycle near the vehicle of Abdul Latif Ashna, the deputy governor of Kandahar, killing the deputy governor and wounding his driver and four of his bodyguards. There were no civilian victims,” he told AFP.
Ashna, a trained engineer, had been deputy governor since April last year. He previously worked for UN Habitat, the UN programme to improve the urban environment, before teaching at Kandahar University. He also headed the provincial branch of the ministry of rural development.
Besides foreign troops and Afghan soldiers and police, the Taliban also regularly target local officials whom they accuse of being traitors working with the international forces and the Western-backed Kabul government.
The deputy mayor of Kandahar, Noor Ahmad Nazari, was killed in October, six months after his predecessor was assassinated.
Governor Wesa himself survived a bomb attack on his convoy in November 2009.
Saturday’s attack on the deputy governor came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a central Kabul supermarket popular with Westerners, killing at least eight people, including three foreign women.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for the attack, the first to target foreign civilians in the capital since August 2010.
The latest bombing underscored the perilous security in parts of the southern province, despite it being the focus of the US-led military strategy to reverse the Taliban’s momentum.
US officials say the American-led military campaign in the south is make-or-break for the war, pinning their hopes on undermining the militants in their heartland and limiting the number of such attacks.
A year after sending 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, President Obama said last month that the war was on track but gains were fragile.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2011.
The deputy governor of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province was killed by a suicide bomber on Saturday, the province’s administrative chief said.
“Deputy Governor Abdul Latif Ashna had just left his home and was on his way to his office when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near his vehicle,” said Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa.
One of his bodyguards and his driver were wounded, as were two passers-by, he added. A fifth person was slightly hurt and did not need hospital treatment.“This is the work of enemies of Afghanistan, the Taliban. They kill anyone who is working for Afghanistan’s future, to rebuild the country,” the governor added.
A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack. “One of our jihadists...blew up his motorcycle near the vehicle of Abdul Latif Ashna, the deputy governor of Kandahar, killing the deputy governor and wounding his driver and four of his bodyguards. There were no civilian victims,” he told AFP.
Ashna, a trained engineer, had been deputy governor since April last year. He previously worked for UN Habitat, the UN programme to improve the urban environment, before teaching at Kandahar University. He also headed the provincial branch of the ministry of rural development.
Besides foreign troops and Afghan soldiers and police, the Taliban also regularly target local officials whom they accuse of being traitors working with the international forces and the Western-backed Kabul government.
The deputy mayor of Kandahar, Noor Ahmad Nazari, was killed in October, six months after his predecessor was assassinated.
Governor Wesa himself survived a bomb attack on his convoy in November 2009.
Saturday’s attack on the deputy governor came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a central Kabul supermarket popular with Westerners, killing at least eight people, including three foreign women.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for the attack, the first to target foreign civilians in the capital since August 2010.
The latest bombing underscored the perilous security in parts of the southern province, despite it being the focus of the US-led military strategy to reverse the Taliban’s momentum.
US officials say the American-led military campaign in the south is make-or-break for the war, pinning their hopes on undermining the militants in their heartland and limiting the number of such attacks.
A year after sending 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, President Obama said last month that the war was on track but gains were fragile.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2011.