World

Bomb Kills Afghan Governor, 3 Others

by Gh0s7 | September 12, 2008 at 11:37 pm | 172 views | 1 comment | 10 recommendations

Afghan president says he'll send troops to Pakistan to fight Taliban

Rahim Faiez of the Associated Press is reporting that a remote control bomb was setoff by two unknown men and destroyed an Afghan provincial governor's vehicle. Officials say that the attack occured on Saturday and killed the Afghan governor and three other people.

The explosion occurred only about 500 yards from the governor's home. He had been traveling in the second car of a three-car convoy that was headed for parliament. The bomb detonated directly on the governor's vehicle, shredding the front half of the SUV and flipping the remains upside down.

The article says that the blast killed Abdullah Wardak, the governor of Logar province, along with two of his bodyguards and a driver. As of the time of the article, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the bombing attack.

A resident in Paghman, the area where the attack occurred about 12 miles west of Kabul, said he saw two men on the side of a hill near the road where the explosion detonated. Mohammad Shoaib said that after the bomb went off, the two men ran away. Authorities found wires on top of the hill, he said.

The Afghan governor was in charge of Logar, the province that is located directly below Kabul. The article clarifies that Afghanistan has 34 provinces, each headed by a provincial governor. Government officials are blaming the attacks on "the enemies of Afghanistan" and that Wardak, who was known as a strong opponent of the Taliban, was the first provincial governor to be killed since September 2006.

"It was a deliberate attack," said Abdul Malik Sidiquee, deputy head of directorate of local governments. "It was the work of the enemies of the country."