| More on this story from yesterday. |
[Aljazeera] The top security leadership of Afghanistan's Kandahar has been assassinated in a brazen gun attack claimed by the Taliban, leaving a power vacuum in the crucial province ahead of Saturday's elections. General Abdul Raziq, one of Afghanistan's most powerful security officials, was killed along with Kandahar's intelligence chief, Abdul Mohmin, when a bodyguard opened fire after a meeting in the southern province, officials said.
Deputy provincial governor Agha Lala Dastageri said Kandahar Governor Zalmai Wesa also died of his wounds after being taken to a local hospital, although security officials in the capital maintained Wesa was wounded but survived.
Citing US military officials, TOLOnews reported that Wesa survived the attack after undergoing surgery, adding that he is in stable condition. General Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan who had been at the meeting with Raziq only moments earlier, was also uninjured in the attack.
In their claim of responsibility, the Taliban said they had targeted both Miller and Raziq, who had a fearsome reputation as a ruthless opponent of the armed group.
The killing of Raziq is a major blow to the Afghan government ahead of parliamentary elections on October 20, which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt. Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Kabul, said two US official were also wounded in the attack.
"There was a meeting between the US top commander in Afghanistan Scot Miller and top government representatives in Kandahar. After that meeting, there was gunfire inside the governor’s compound.
"In that gunfire, the intelligence chief, and the top police commander were killed. Two Americans were injured," Ahelbarra reported.
He should have never left Kandahar and Spin Boldak. If they can get Raziq, they can get anyone.
| Al Arabiya adds: |
The Taliban said General Abdul Raziq, the powerful police chief of Kandahar province with a fierce reputation for brutality, was the target of the shooting.
Raziq was killed and six of his bodyguards maimed, a provincial security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The shooting happened as they were leaving the meeting," the official said, adding two members of Afghanistan’s spy agency also were maimed.