Kabul: Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of the council tasked with trying to negotiate a political end to the war in Afghanistan, was killed at his home on Tuesday by a suicide bomber, in a major blow to peace efforts.
It was the most high-profile killing in Afghanistan since the younger half-brother of President Hamid Karzai, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was
killed at his home in July by a highly trusted guard.
“Rabbani has been martyred,” said Mohammed Zahir, head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kabul Police. He had no further details. AGENCIES Taliban ally Haqqanis behind killing of Rabbani?
Kabul: Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated at his residence in Kabul’s heavily guarded diplomatic enclave. A police source said Masoom Stanekzai, a senior adviser to Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, was also badly injured in the attack.
The attack is believed to be the work of the Haqqani network, a Taliban-allied insurgent faction, based along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
One senior diplomat in Kabul said the death of Rabbani, head of the High Peace Council, dealt a blow to the attempts by Karzai’s government to work towards a political end to the war. “The killing of Rabbani is a serious blow against president Karzai and the government’s peace and reconciliations efforts. It also underscores the inability of government to protect even the most prominent Afghan politicians,” the diplomat said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack outside the residence of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani. “Yes, we carried out the attack on Rabbani but will provide you other details shortly,” he said.
The assassination comes a week after a 20-hour gun and grenade attack on Kabul’s diplomatic enclave by insurgents, and three suicide bomb attacks on other parts of the city, the longest-lasting assault on the city. AGENCIES
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