KABUL, 6 September — Afghan President Hamid Karzai survived an assassination attempt yesterday just hours after a car bomb killed up to 30 people in Kabul in the biggest act of terrorism since the fall of the Taleban.
Karzai escaped unhurt after a gunman opened fire on his car in the southern city of Kandahar where he was attending the wedding of his brother Ahmad Wali, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah told reporters here. Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha was slightly injured in the shooting incident at around 6:30 p.m. (1400 GMT) which ended with the deaths of three people, including the would-be assassin, an Afghan bodyguard of Karzai and an Afghan bodyguard of Agha.
News that Karzai had escaped with his life came little over three hours after a massive car bomb exploded outside the Culture Ministry in downtown Kabul. Chief Foreign Ministry spokesman Omar Samad said that 12 people were confirmed dead but added the toll was likely to rise steeply. “The toll is rising because there are many people that have been injured,” he told reporters.
“We know so far that more than a dozen have been confirmed as dead, but it may be up to 30. Fifty people have been injured, some seriously.” Kabul television reported that 25 people had been killed, 17 of whom were women and children.
The blast in Kabul was the deadliest of a series of explosions in recent weeks, which security officials believe may have been carried out by remnants of the Al-Qaeda terror network and their Taleban allies.
The Turkish commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Maj. Gen. Akin Zorlu, told reporters recently that renegade groups including followers of Al-Qaeda and the Taleban could be trying to spread fear in the Afghan capital.
Abdullah indicated that he believed the attack in Kabul was the work of the two groups. “It’s difficult to speculate but I rather think (this is the work of) terrorist groups,” said the minister. “One could say Al-Qaeda, associates of Al-Qaeda or remnants of the Taleban.”
Security has already been stepped up in Kabul in the lead-up to the anniversaries of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States and the assassination of the late Northern Alliance military Ahmad Shah Masood two days earlier by suspected Al-Qaeda followers.
Masood’s brother Wali told reporters that a series of celebrations to honor the Mujahedeen leader, including a major rally at Kabul stadium on Monday, would go ahead as “we must not retreat ... from the fight and struggle against terrorism.”
Abdullah said Karzai would be staying in Kandahar overnight after the assassination attempt, which came despite the presence of US Special Forces bodyguards who have been protecting him for the last two months. One of the American bodyguards was injured during the incident, the Pentagon said.
Abdullah said a uniformed gunman had opened fire on the president’s car as he was traveling from the governor’s residence to a nearby shrine. Two bullets pierced the car but did not injure anyone inside. “A bodyguard then opened fire on him. Both were killed on the spot, the bodyguard was martyred and the assassin was killed. “It was clearly an assassination attempt on his (Karzai’s) life,” Abdullah added.
However, BBC journalist Lyse Doucet, who was traveling with Karzai, said the attempted assassin was shot dead by a US Special Forces member.
The assassination attempt on Karzai comes around two months after his Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir was shot dead by still unidentified assassins in Kabul.
Another vice president, Defense Minister Muhammad Qasim Fahim, was also the target of an assassination attempt by bombers in April in the eastern city of Jalalabad but survived. Such incidents and the recent bomb explosions have served to undermine hopes that Afghanistan was returning to some semblance of normality after 23 years of conflict which appeared to have ended with the downfall of the Taleban late last year off the back of a massive US-led bombing campaign.
In Washington, defense officials said the US special operations troops with Karzai shot and killed at least one attacker. They said initial reports indicated one of the American guards might have been injured.
The car bomb in Kabul appeared to have been placed in a station wagon whose mangled remains could be seen close to the ministry and the Spinzar Hotel. “We have found a number plate of the vehicle and we are now trying to trace the owner,” said police official General Ali Shah Wajdan told reporters.
