Murderous assault on Hamid Karzai

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a firefight with insurgents Monday, while an Afghan vice president escaped &to= english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/99/391/10882_terrorim.htm ' target=_blank>a bomb attack on his convoy in the latest assassination attempt on a political leader ahead of key elections. The U.S. military said leaders of &to= english.pravda.ru/main/2002/03/06/26830.html ' target=_blank>al-Qaida and the Taliban have held a series of meetings in Pakistan to discuss how to disrupt the elections. U.S. and Afghan officials have been warning of increased violence before the Oct. 9 presidential vote. Monday's violence followed a failed assassination attempt last week on U.S.-backed interim President Hamid Karzai, considered the favorite to win the election. The Americans were killed in a clash with militants in the troubled southeastern province of Paktika, the military said. The dead were not immediately identified. According to the Defense Department, 137 U.S. military personnel have died in Operation Enduring Freedom, launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Some 99 of the fatalities have been in or around Afghanistan, and 54 of them have been troops killed in action. In northern Afghanistan, Nayiamatullah Shahrani, one of the country's four vice presidents, and a Cabinet minister were on route to to inspect a road project when their convoy struck the bomb in the Khanabad district of Kunduz province. The bomb, hidden by the roadside, was detonated by remote control and damaged a car carrying Shahrani's bodyguards in the 20-vehicle convoy, Police Chief Mutaleb Beg said. "It damaged one of the cars and one of his guards was slightly hurt by the flying glass," he said. Beg blamed "enemies" for the attack, but didn't elaborate. No one was arrested, informs the Seattle Post. According to Xinhuanet, Afghan Vice President Namatullah Shahrani was unharmed when a bomb went off on his way to a road project in northeastern part of the country, local officials said Monday. Sayed 'Engineer' Omar, governor of Kunduz province, told Xinhuain an exclusive interview that the incident took place at 1 p.m. local time when Shahrani, who was escorted by ranking officials from Afghan transitional government as well as local authorities, was traveling in Khanadad District between Kunduz and neighboring Takhar provinces. A bomb planted by the roadside suddenly exploded by remote control device. Fortunately, the Vice President was not hurt, while the car his bodyguards were traveling in received the impact, and the driver was injured, he said. Shahrani continued the journey to take part in an inauguration ceremony of a road reconstruction project in Badakhshan province, while other officials returned back from the visit, Omar said. The province is situated several hundred km northeast of the capital of Kabul. Up till now 15 suspects have been arrested for investigation, he added. Sources from Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed the attack, but said it cannot blame anyone at this time, as the investigation is still going on. Afghan &to= english.pravda.ru/main/2002/09/27/37393.html ' target=_blank>President Hamid Karzai escaped from an assassination effort four days ago as the helicopter he was traveling on was almost hit by a rocket fired by &to= english.pravda.ru/main/2003/01/17/42209.html ' target=_blank>Taliban remnants near Gardez, capital of Paktia province to the southeast of Kabul. A convoy carrying Vice President Nematullah Shahrani was attacked by remote-control explosives Monday in northern Afghanistan, just four days after President Hamid Karzai's helicopter was rocketed as it attempted to land at a school in southern Afghanistan. The roadside bomb attack in Kunduz Province, in which Shahrani was unhurt but one driver was injured, came amid escalating threats from Islamic extremists and other groups who seek to sabotage the country's first-ever presidential elections, scheduled for Oct. 9. Qanooni, 43, a respected political figure, is viewed as Karzai's only serious challenger in a field of 18 candidates. He had been part of Karzai's cabinet since the government was formed under a U.N. plan in December 2001, but he decided to run against Karzai in July after Karzai dropped a close Qanooni ally, Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim, as a vice presidential running mate. Karzai, 47, is still considered unbeatable, but Qanooni's last-minute entry into the race has raised fears that the election will be dangerously fragmented along ethnic lines, with Qanooni representing the Tajik minority against Karzai, a member of the larger Pashtun group. As a result, a group of foreign diplomats and moderate aides to both men have been pressing for a pre-election rapprochement between the two, and it was widely rumored during the past week that an agreement was about to be announced, reports the Washington Post.

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