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Afghan President Hamid Karzai Survives Apparent Assassination Attempt by
Taliban
Sunday, June 10, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban militants fired rockets near President Hamid
Karzai in an apparent assassination attempt in central Afghanistan on
Sunday, but the missiles fell short and no one was hurt, officials and
witnesses said.
The attack happened as clashes and airstrikes in the country's south and
northwest left 47 suspected militants and two police dead.
Karzai was giving a speech to the elders and residents of Andar district in
Ghazni province when rockets were fired nearby, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai,
provincial police chief.
Witnesses said they heard between four and six rockets, but the Taliban
claimed it fired off 12.
The rockets missed their target, and Karzai continued his speech, calling on
those gathered to remain calm, said Arif Yaqoubi, a local reporter attending
the event.
Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press
that Taliban militants were behind the attack.
"The Taliban knew that Karzai was coming to Andar district. When Karzai was
meeting with the people, the Taliban fired 12 rockets," Ahmadi said by
satellite phone from an undisclosed location. "The rockets fell nearby."
The Taliban watched the area for an hour after the attack as ambulances and
helicopters patrolled the area, Ahmadi said, adding that they did not know
how many people were wounded or killed.
An Afghan government official, who did not want to be named because he was
not authorized to speak on the incident, said no casualties were reported in
the incident.
Yaqoubi said six rockets were fired nearby as Karzai was telling people
gathered at a school yard in Andar about government projects to build roads
and clinics.
"He briefly stopped his speech, and the people were concerned and worried,"
Yaqoubi said. "But then Karzai continued by saying, 'Calm down and don't
worry."'
Khial Mohammad, a Ghazni lawmaker also at the event, said that during the
speech "we heard the sounds of rockets whizzing over our heads" before
slamming in the distance.
In northwestern Afghanistan, meanwhile, militants attacked three separate
posts Saturday in Murghab district of Badghis province, sparking a six-hour
long battle that left 20 suspected Taliban and two police killed, said
provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Naizyar.
Police repelled the attack and sent reinforcements to the area, forcing the
militants to withdraw, Naizyar said.
There have been a number of attacks in the relatively peaceful north, but
the southern and eastern provinces are the hardest hit by the insurgency.
In southern Zabul province, NATO and Afghan troops clashed with militants
and called in airstrikes, leaving 27 suspected Taliban insurgents dead in
the district of Shinkay, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir
Azimi.
The operation followed intelligence reports of militant activity in the
area, Azimi said. There were no reports of civilian casualties, he said.
Neither claim could be independently verified because the incidents occurred
in remote areas.
After a winter lull, there has been a sharp spike in clashes and other
violence this spring in Afghanistan. Some 2,200 people, many of them
insurgents, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to
an AP count based on numbers reported by the U.S., NATO, U.N. and Afghan
officials.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai Survives Apparent Assassination Attempt by
Taliban
Sunday, June 10, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban militants fired rockets near President Hamid
Karzai in an apparent assassination attempt in central Afghanistan on
Sunday, but the missiles fell short and no one was hurt, officials and
witnesses said.
The attack happened as clashes and airstrikes in the country's south and
northwest left 47 suspected militants and two police dead.
Karzai was giving a speech to the elders and residents of Andar district in
Ghazni province when rockets were fired nearby, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai,
provincial police chief.
Witnesses said they heard between four and six rockets, but the Taliban
claimed it fired off 12.
The rockets missed their target, and Karzai continued his speech, calling on
those gathered to remain calm, said Arif Yaqoubi, a local reporter attending
the event.
Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press
that Taliban militants were behind the attack.
"The Taliban knew that Karzai was coming to Andar district. When Karzai was
meeting with the people, the Taliban fired 12 rockets," Ahmadi said by
satellite phone from an undisclosed location. "The rockets fell nearby."
The Taliban watched the area for an hour after the attack as ambulances and
helicopters patrolled the area, Ahmadi said, adding that they did not know
how many people were wounded or killed.
An Afghan government official, who did not want to be named because he was
not authorized to speak on the incident, said no casualties were reported in
the incident.
Yaqoubi said six rockets were fired nearby as Karzai was telling people
gathered at a school yard in Andar about government projects to build roads
and clinics.
"He briefly stopped his speech, and the people were concerned and worried,"
Yaqoubi said. "But then Karzai continued by saying, 'Calm down and don't
worry."'
Khial Mohammad, a Ghazni lawmaker also at the event, said that during the
speech "we heard the sounds of rockets whizzing over our heads" before
slamming in the distance.
In northwestern Afghanistan, meanwhile, militants attacked three separate
posts Saturday in Murghab district of Badghis province, sparking a six-hour
long battle that left 20 suspected Taliban and two police killed, said
provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Naizyar.
Police repelled the attack and sent reinforcements to the area, forcing the
militants to withdraw, Naizyar said.
There have been a number of attacks in the relatively peaceful north, but
the southern and eastern provinces are the hardest hit by the insurgency.
In southern Zabul province, NATO and Afghan troops clashed with militants
and called in airstrikes, leaving 27 suspected Taliban insurgents dead in
the district of Shinkay, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir
Azimi.
The operation followed intelligence reports of militant activity in the
area, Azimi said. There were no reports of civilian casualties, he said.
Neither claim could be independently verified because the incidents occurred
in remote areas.
After a winter lull, there has been a sharp spike in clashes and other
violence this spring in Afghanistan. Some 2,200 people, many of them
insurgents, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to
an AP count based on numbers reported by the U.S., NATO, U.N. and Afghan
officials.
