Suicide bomber kills top official, 22 more at Afghan wedding
A suicide bomber killed a prominent anti-Taliban politician and 22
other guests at a wedding reception in the northern Afghan province of
Samangan on Saturday, officials said.
The bomber blew himself up as he hugged lawmaker Ahmad Khan Samangani, who was celebrating his daughter's marriage, police said.
The
blast also killed the provincial intelligence chief and a senior police
commander. Samangani was close to Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum,
and commanded thousands of men in the area.
The Uzbeks are part of
an uneasy coalition of minority tribes that fight the Taliban in their
area. The attack, among the most lethal in recent months, raises the
risk of greater insecurity in the relatively peaceful province, analysts
said.
At least 23 people were killed and 60 others wounded, said a statement from President Hamid Karzai condemning the attack.
"The
enemies of Afghanistan once again targeted mujahideen figures who
strive for national unity," Karzai said. The wounded were in critical
condition and the death toll could rise, said regional police spokesman
Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai.
Samangani had told guards at the party not
to inconvenience guests with security searches, said provincial police
chief Khalil Andarabi. The Taliban, which has been behind a series of
suicide attacks this year, denied responsibility. The group often
distances itself from attacks with high civilian death tolls. "We don't
have a hand in this," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. "Ahmad Khan
(Samangani) was a former commander of the mujahideen, he was notorious
and many people could have had problems with him." Samangani, an ethnic
Uzbek, fought against the Soviets in the 1980s, and against the Taliban
during their 1996-2001 rule.
He may have had enemies other than
the Taliban, said Kabul-based political analyst Waheed Mujhda. "Former
warlords have frequently been targeted in the past," he said. "Ahmad
Khan Samangani was a strongman in terms of security for Samangan
province. His loss will certainly affect security in that region."
Witnesses
described scenes of carnage. "I saw parts of bodies, blood all over the
reception," said Ahmad Jawed, a guest at the wedding. "Many wounded
people were crying for help." Another witness, Barat Khan, said: "It
took some 15 minutes for the smoke to clear, then I saw bodies and pools
of blood." Afghanistan is experiencing some of the worst violence since
the Taliban government was toppled by U.S.-led Afghan forces more than a
decade ago. In a separate incident on Saturday, a police official was
gunned down in the southern city of Kandahar, the governor's spokesman
said. On Friday, a car bomb killed a leading female politician, Hanifa
Safi. No one has claimed responsibility.
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