KABUL: Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination of President Hamid Karzai's younger brother on Tuesday, calling it "one of our biggest achievements" in nearly a decade of war.
Taliban spokesman Usuf Ahmadi told by telephone that the group had recently assigned a gunman to kill Ahmed Wali Karzai, a hugely powerful and controversial figure in the Afghan south. (AFP)
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his half brother's assassination reflects the suffering of all Afghan people.
Karzai said Tuesday in a press conference that Ahmed Wali Karzai's death is a pain he shares with all Afghans.
Officials say Ahmed Wali Karzai was assassinated by a bodyguard at his home in Kandahar.
The president says "in the houses of the people of Afghanistan, each of us is suffering and our hope is, God willing, to remove this suffering from the people of Afghanistan and implement peace and stability."
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai's powerful half brother, a lightning rod for criticism of all that is wrong with the Afghan government, was assassinated by a bodyguard Tuesday at his home in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said.
Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was head of the Kandahar provincial council, had become a political liability for the Karzai government after a series of allegations, including that he was on the CIA payroll and involved in drug trafficking. He denied the charges, and the president repeatedly defended him, denouncing accusations that his brother was involved in criminal activities in the restive south.
Ahmed Wali Karzai's death was confirmed by Zalmai Ayubi, the spokesman for Kandahar province, and Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior. A member of Karzai's private security team killed him with an AK-47, according to a person who witnessed the killing. The individual declined to be identified.
Rangina Hamidi, a resident of Kandahar and daughter of the city's mayor, said Ahmed Wali Karzai is survived by five children — two sons and three daughters. She says his youngest son was born about a month ago.
"It is his one-month-old child who is never going to see his father that I cry about," she said sobbing on the phone. "How many orphans and widows are we creating in this country?"
Ahmed Wali Karzai has been the reported target of multiple assassination attempts.
In May 2009, his motorcade was ambushed by insurgents firing rockets and machine guns in eastern Nangarhar province. One of his bodyguards was killed, but he was not harmed.
That attack came less than two months after four Taliban suicide bombers stormed Kandahar's provincial council office, killing 13 people in an assault that Ahmed Wali Karzai said was aimed at him. A Taliban spokesman said the attack targeted the general compound. The president's half brother had left the building a few minutes before that attack.
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and one of the most powerful men in southern Afghanistan was shot dead at his home on Tuesday, apparently by a senior and highly trusted bodyguard, officials said.
Ahmad Wali Karzai was a controversial figure, but his assassination will leave a dangerous power vacuum in Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace and a focus of recent efforts by a "surge" of U.S. troops to turn the tide against the insurgency.
He also played a critical role in shoring up his brother's influence in the south, and President Karzai may find his reach there is now limited.
"My younger brother was martyred in his house today. This is the life of all Afghan people. I hope these miseries which every Afghan family faces will one day end," Karzai said at a news conference in Kabul. He gave no more details.
Ahmad Wali Karzai was shot dead by Sardar Mohammad, a senior member of his security detail who once guarded the president, a source at the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's intelligence agency, told Reuters.
"Sardar Mohammad was a senior bodyguard to Wali Karzai and highly trusted. He had been with Karzai's family for the last ten years," the source said, adding Ahmad Wali Karzai had died almost instantly because he was shot in the head and chest.
Mohammad was shot dead by other bodyguards moments after opening fire, the source said.
The killing cast a pall over the city of Kandahar. Police had set up extra checkpoints, security forces flooded into the city and shops were closed down in the central areas.
"MANY ENEMIES"
The Taliban claimed responsibility for one of the most high-profile assassinations of the last decade after news of his death became public. They have in the past taken responsibility for attacks that security services question their role in.
Years in power and his sometimes ruthless operating methods meant there might be many other people keen to target Karzai who was often known simply by his initials, AWK.
"I'm not sure whether I would assume that this was the Taliban because he had a lot of enemies down there," said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
Officials in Kabul and Kandahar declined comment on whether they thought the killing was personal, connected to the insurgency or driven by other grievances.
Ahmad Wali Karzai had survived several other assassination attempts. He said in May 2009 he had been ambushed on the road to Kabul by Taliban insurgents who killed one of his bodyguards.
In November 2008, he escaped unscathed from an attack on government buildings in his home province which killed six, and in 2003 there was an explosion outside his home.
CRITICAL POWER BROKER
A half brother of the president, Ahmad Wali Karzai returned to Afghanistan after the ouster of the Taliban government, leaving behind a career as a restaurateur in Chicago to eventually become probably the most powerful man in Kandahar.
His power came not from his position as head of the provincial council -- a largely consultative role which normally carries limited influence -- but from his tribal and family connections and the fortune he accumulated.
He had been accused of corruption and ties to Afghanistan's huge opium trade that helps fund the Taliban-led insurgency. Ahmad Wali Karzai had strongly denied the accusations.
Foreign officials saw him as a polarizing figure who could complicate their efforts to win over the population and supplant the Taliban by bringing improvements to the way the province is governed.
But they also recognized his huge reach and worked closely with him despite misgivings.
"I'm certain that the killing of AWK will have profound political consequences, but it is too early to assess this more concretely now," said a senior Western diplomat in Kabul, who asked not to be named.
"We need to know more about the underlying motives of the killing and which actors now will move in to fill the lacuna after AWK."
(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Jonathon Burch and Michelle Nichols in Kabul; Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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Q+A-The impact of Ahmad Wali Karzai's death
13 Jul 2011 12:26
Source: reuters // Reuters
By Emma Graham-Harrison
KABUL, July 13 (Reuters) - Ahmad Wali Karzai, the younger half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and most powerful man in southern Afghanistan, was killed by a close associate on Tuesday.
His death leaves a dangerous power vacuum in southern Kandahar province, birthplace of the Taliban and focus of recent efforts by a surge of U.S. troops to turn the tide against the insurgency.
Below are questions and answers about Ahmad Wali Karzai and his role in southern Afghanistan.
Q: WHY DID HE MATTER?
A: Ahmad Wali Karzai was arguably the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan, who acted as a regent and enforcer for his brother across the volatile region. His influence belied his modest official title, as head of the provincial council.
Critics said he was tainted by brutality and corruption that helped drive ordinary Afghans into the arms of insurgents. He was reported variously to have ties to the opium trade, private militias and the CIA -- all charges he strongly denied.
But even enemies admitted he also brought a degree of ruthless control to a violent area through his unrivalled network of tribal and family connections and the personal fortune he was rumoured to have amassed and used deftly for political ends.
Short-term there is almost certain to be infighting among rivals to his crown; longer term the political structure of the south is likely to be irrevocably changed.
Q: WILL HIS DEATH HURT PRESIDENT KARZAI?
A: Analysts say Ahmad Wali Karzai all but won two presidential elections for his brother through his patronage and security networks, and ensured some continued, if not always enthusiastic, support for his rule.
Another Karzai brother has been chosen to succeed him as a senior elder of the Popalzai tribe, in what is likely an early bid by Karzai to curb the extent of the coming power struggle.
Shah Wali Karzai is respected but relatively unknown; he may eventually be able to build up a power base that matches his younger brother's, but for now President Karzai is likely to be diminished in an area that should be his natural heartland.
Q: WILL HIS DEATH HAVE A WIDER IMPACT ON SECURITY?
A: His death will almost certainly cause a short-term deterioration in the already fragile security situation in Kandahar, by fraying or shattering the complex patronage networks he presided over.
Kandahar City already saw over half of all assassinations nationwide in the second quarter of the year.
If fighting for a share of his power or wealth is protracted, it may sap energy from the battle against Taliban insurgents or further alienate locals exhausted and disillusioned by years of violence and corruption.
This could threaten recent security gains made by foreign forces around the city, particularly at a time when they are preparing to start a gradual, years-long security handover to the Afghan police and army.
In Kabul, senior officials warned that the psychological impact could be as significant as the actual impact, because the death of someone as powerful and well protected as Ahmad Wali Karzai implies no one can really be safe.
Q: WHO WILL REPLACE HIM?
A: Ahmad Wali Karzai had several roles, and his official title as head of the provincial council was the least important. Normally a consultative position, it may return to that status if a low-key successor is chosen.
Another Karzai brother has been anointed to fill a second role, as a leading elder of the Popalzai tribe and presumably as Karzai's unofficial representative in southern Afghanistan.
Shah Wali Karzai is a businessman and trained engineer, two years older than his murdered brother, who used to travel frequently between Dubai and Kandahar and kept a much lower profile. He may struggle to entirely fill his brother's shoes.
So Ahmad Wali Karzai's title as the uncrowned "King of Kandahar" may still be available for other ambitious and powerful leaders like Gul Agha Sherzai, currently governor of eastern Nangahar province but once Kandahar governor.
His transfer in 2004 allowed Ahmad Wali Karzai to consolidate his power, but Sherzai is reportedly interested in returning to his former base, and as a sometime ally of President Karzai might be favoured for the post.
Another powerful Kandahar player is the recently appointed Kandahar police chief Abdul Razeq.
Q: WHAT WERE HIS TIES WITH THE WEST LIKE?
A: Perturbed by the persistent reports of corruption and drug and militia links, some Western diplomats and soldiers dealing with Kandahar had misgivings about his role.
Ultimately though they seem to have decided that his influence was so ubiquitous, and his hold over politicians, officials and tribal leaders so strong that they were better working with him than against him.
Western ambivalence about him was summed up last year by British Major General Nick Carter, then the commanding officer for southern Afghanistan, at a news conference.
"It's also my sense that, in relation to Ahmad Wali Karzai, he would tell you -- and he's either a candidate for an Oscar or he's the most maligned man in Afghanistan -- that he is trying to help his country, that he's trying to help us and he's trying to help his people," he said.(Editing by Michelle Nichols)
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Five French soldiers killed in Afghanistan -statement
13 Jul 2011 12:06
Source: reuters // Reuters
PARIS, July 13 (Reuters) - Five French soldiers were killed after a suicide attack in Afghanistan on Wednesday, and four others were seriously wounded, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement.
"The French soldiers were protecting a council meeting in the Tagab valley," the Elysee said. "A terrorist set off a bomb close to the soldiers wounding four other French soldiers seriously and three Afghan civilians."
The statement said one Afghan civilian was also killed in the attack. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry and John Irish)
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Pakistan's ISI chief heads to U.S. as ties founder
13 Jul 2011 11:22
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Pasha to discuss intelligence matters
* Visit follows deteriorating ties after bin Laden's death
* Prime minister says concerned over military aid suspension (Adds military official's, prime minister's comments)
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD, July 13 (Reuters) - The head of Pakistan's powerful spy agency headed for Washington on Wednesday for unscheduled talks, the military said, days after the United States suspended a third of military aid over deepening tensions in their relationship.
Few details were available about Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha's one-day trip, but it comes at a time when the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military's intelligence wing, is under intense pressure to sever ties with militant groups including those it has long nurtured as assets in Afghanistan and India.
Relations between the intelligence establishments of the two countries have been on a downward spiral since January after a CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis with joint operations against militants suspended soon after.
Then, in May, the killing of Osama bin Laden in a secret raid by U.S. special forces further damaged the relationship, with Pakistan branding the operation a violation of its sovereignty.
Pasha was going to Washington to "coordinate intelligence matters", the military said in a one-line statement and an official said it signalled efforts to patch up ties.
"Relations have not broken down. Intelligence sharing is going on... We are talking to each other despite difficulties," the senior military official said on condition of anonymity.
Incensed over the bin Laden raid, Pakistan drastically cut the number of U.S. military trainers allowed in the country and also set clear terms for U.S. intelligence activities in the country.
Washington responded by saying it would hold back $800 million -- a third of $2 billion in security assistance -- in a show of displeasure over the cutback of military trainers, limits on visa for U.S. personnel and other bilateral irritants.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani expressed concerns over the U.S. suspension of some of the assistance.
"It is our military. We have concerns about (the suspension of) aid because we are in the middle of the war on terrorism and extremism," Gilani told a news conference in the southwestern city of Quetta.
"It's our own war but we are fighting this war for the entire world. For the peace, prosperity and progress of the whole world. The entire world is benefiting from this war."
Gilani's concern ran counter to a statement by the Pakistani military which played down the impact of the U.S. aid suspension saying that it would fight the militants with its "own resources".
Relentless missile strikes by U.S. drone aircraft in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border are also a major bone of contention.
Despite protests by Pakistan in public, the United States has continued the strikes, killing at least 48 suspected militants this week, one of the largest death tolls to date in the controversial air bombing campaign. (Editing by Chris Allbritton and Sanjeev Miglani)
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Afghan suicide bombing kills five French troops
13 Jul 2011 13:15
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Four other soldiers seriously injured, 1 Afghan killed
* Attack comes day after Sarkozy details withdrawal plans
* Worst attack against French troops since 2008
(Recasts with French confirmation, details, background)
By Ahmad Qiam
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, July 13 (Reuters) - A suicide attack killed five French soldiers and seriously wounded four others in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the French president's office said on Wednesday, France's biggest one-day troop loss since 2008.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy had visited Afghanistan on Tuesday and detailed his plan to withdraw 1,000 troops by the end of 2012, around a quarter of France's troop commitment to Afghanistan.
"The French soldiers were protecting a council meeting in the Tagab valley," Sarkozy's office said. "A terrorist set off a bomb close to the soldiers wounding four other French soldiers seriously and three Afghan civilians."
The statement said one Afghan civilian was also killed.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had earlier confirmed there had been an insurgent attack in Kapisa causing foreign casualties.
Most foreign troops based in Tagab in Kapisa province, 50 km (30 miles) outside the Afghan capital, are French.
"The head of state expresses France's determination to continue to operate at the heart of ISAF to establish peace and stability in the country and to contribute to its development," Sarkozy's office said.
Abdul Hakim, the district governor of Tagab, said earlier three foreign soldiers had been killed in the attack, and two Afghan civilians and a policeman had also been wounded.
He said the suicide bomber walked up to the soldiers who were standing next to their armoured vehicles before detonating his explosives.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since U.S.-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. More than 2,500 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan since the war began almost 10 years ago.
The attack on the French troops was the worst since 2008 when 10 soldiers were killed and 21 injured in a major battle against Taliban insurgents.
France has 4,000 troops in Afghanistan and has now seen 69 of its soldiers killed since it joined the U.S.- and NATO-led Afghanistan operation in 2001. The latest casualty was killed on Monday by an accidental shot from his own camp in Kapisa.
An opinion poll after the death of former al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in May showed more than half of French people support a withdrawal from the nearly decade-old military campaign against Taliban insurgents. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in Kabul, John Irish and Emmanuel Jarry in Paris; Writing by Jonathon Burch and John Irish)
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MP, top Karzai aide feared killed - police official
17 Jul 2011 18:02
Source: reuters // Reuters
(Adds details, background)
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL, July 17 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a top advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a member of the country's parliament in a residential district of Kabul on Sunday, just days after the president's brother was gunned down at home, officials said.
The spokesman for Kabul's police chief said two or three armed men started a gun battle around 8 o'clock at the house of Jan Mohammad Khan, a former governor of southern Uruzgan province and close aide to the president.
"The battle between gunmen and security forces is still going on," spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said, adding that the attack began around 8.00 pm local time (1530 GMT).
Lawmaker Hashim Watanwal was also killed, said Stanekzai and Obaidullah Barekzai, a member of parliament from Uruzgan province who had seen the bodies of both men being brought out.
Hours after the attack began, gunfire could still be heard in western Karte Seh district, home to the country's parliament, many Afghan politicians and media and some embassies.
There was a heavy presence of security troops in the area and the streets leading to Khan's home were cordoned off.
The attack came on the day that Afghanistan began a long-promised transition to control of its own security, but the process kicked off in the relatively peaceful central province of Bamiyan, half a day's drive from Kabul.
A surge of U.S. troops has helped improve security in the south of the country over the last year, but there has been spreading insecurity in once peaceful northern areas, fiercer fighting in the east and record civilian casualties.
The first half of this year was the deadliest six months for civilians in the last decade of conflict, with nearly 1,500 killed, the United Nations said in a recent report.
(Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison, editing by Myra MacDonald)
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