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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Assassination attempt raises tensions in Afghanistan |
| 2005-09-11 |
| Armed men in military uniforms opened fire on the defense minister's car on Saturday morning as it was leaving the airport here, in an attack the ministry called an assassination attempt. The minister, Gen. Abdur Rahim Wardak, was not in the car when it came under fire, but a bullet hit the window where he usually sits, a Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Zaher Azimi, said in a telephone interview. Nine men were arrested after the incident, including one who was wounded when soldiers intervened. General Azimi said the men were being checked to establish whether they were actually soldiers or were wearing uniforms in disguise. "The shooting was by men wearing military fatigues," he said. "It is not clear if they were from the National Army or not. An investigation is under way." A government official quoted by The Associated Press suggested that the attack was carried out by soldiers angry over a pay dispute. Even before the shooting, the security situation was already tense in Kabul, which is preparing for parliamentary elections just a week away. General Wardak was on his way to attend a memorial ceremony for the resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud in the Panjshir Valley. Mr. Massoud was killed on Sept. 9, 2001, by attackers thought to be members of Al Qaeda. In a separate incident, several ministers and the military chief of staff were injured when their helicopter crash-landed after hitting a tree as it was taking off in the Panjshir Valley after the ceremony. The helicopter burst into flames, but all aboard were able to escape, General Azimi said. More violence was reported in western Afghanistan, where an election candidate, Ghulam Nabi Balouch, came under gunfire, the state news agency reported. One of Mr. Balouch's bodyguards was killed, and one of the attackers was wounded and arrested by police, the news agency said. Six parliamentary candidates have been killed, and several have come under attack during the monthlong campaign. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 I hope the interrogations are both painful and successful. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-09-11 14:15 |