Karzai Advisor Killed In Afghanistan

Karzai ally killed in suicide attack

Assassination comes as NATO begins security handover

Afghan National Army soldiers march in Kabul recently. NATO's year-long handover to the country's police and army began Sunday. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

Gunmen strapped with explosives killed a close adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a member of parliament on Sunday in another insurgent strike against the Afghan leader's inner circle.
Jan Mohammed Khan was an adviser to Karzai on tribal issues and was close to the president, a fellow Pashtun.
His killing, which the Taliban claimed responsibility for, came less than a week after the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president's half brother and one of the most powerful men in southern Afghanistan.
Two men wearing suicide bomb vests and armed with guns attacked Khan's home in the western Kabul district of Karti Char, said Defence Ministry official Gen. Zahir Wardak.
 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, above, has lost two significant allies to assassinations in recent days: Jan Mohammed Khan on Sunday, and the president's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, earlier last week. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)Khan, who was governor of the Pashtun-dominated Uruzgan province in the south from 2002 until March 2006, was shot along with Uruzgan lawmaker Mohammed Ashim Watanwal, the official said.
Police killed one of the attackers before he could detonate his explosives, while the other was still barricaded inside the home, said the head of the Kabul police investigation unit, Mohammed Zahir. A member of the police's anti-terrorism unit was also killed, he added. The surviving guman was alone in the house, Zahir said.

Taliban claim responsibility

It was unclear how influential Khan was with Karzai, but he was thought to wield considerable influence in Uruzgan. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the insurgent group.
Mujahid said the Taliban killed Khan because he was assisting coalition forces in carrying out night raids against Afghans. The controversial raids carried out by NATO forces have been highly effective in capturing or killing hundreds of Taliban fighters and midlevel commanders.
Karzai has complained the raids anger many Afghans who are mistakenly targeted.
The Taliban had also claimed responsibility for Tuesday's killing of Karzai's half brother, who was shot dead by a close associate. Wali Karzai's death left the president without an influential ally to balance the interests of the southern region's tribal and political leaders, drug runners, insurgents and militias.
The assassination came one day before Gen. David Petraeus, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, hands over responsibility for the military campaign in Afghanistan to his replacement, Lt. Gen. John Allen.More...