Wali Karzai Memorial Service Bombed

(KANDAHAR, Afghanistan) — A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing four people among those who had gathered for a memorial service for the president's assassinated half brother, the government said.

Among those killed in the explosion in Kandahar city was Hekmatullah Hekmat, the head of the clerical council for the province, the Interior Ministry said. At least 13 people were wounded, said Zalmai Ayubi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Sarra Jamai mosque in the southwest of the city had been filled with relatives and friends of the president's half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was killed earlier this week. They were offering their condolences to the family of the provincial leader.

Wali Karzai was shot at close range by a confidant on Tuesday, leaving President Hamid Karzai without a powerful ally in Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold and the site of recent military offensives by the U.S.-led military coalition.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing, which has threatened to create a power vacuum in the south.

Source: www.time.com

An assassination in Kandahar

Ahmad Wali Karzai's personal and tribal connections made him an invaluable asset to the occupying forces. PHOTO: REUTERS

Ambivalence is the best posture to adopt regarding the assassination of Ahmad Wali Karzai. He was the undoubted Achilles heel of his half-brother, Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Ahmad Karzai, with credible allegations that he was intimately involved in Afghanistan’s criminal drug trade while bring on the CIA payroll, symbolised all that was wrong with the Afghan government. Despite all the controversy surrounding him, Hamid Karzai put his brother in charge of the all-important Kandahar area where he was of immense help to Nato forces in confronting the Taliban. This, then, was the central dilemma surrounding Ahmed Karzai. His personal and tribal connections made him an invaluable asset to the occupying forces seeking allies in a country where they had none, but his personal dealings gave lie to the notion that Nato was seeking to win hearts and minds.

Although we know that Karzai was shot dead by his bodyguard, we do not yet know what the motive was. The Taliban have rushed to claim credit but the Taliban are known to boast about actions they never carried out and there are plenty of people who would have lots of reasons to want Karzai dead. If, indeed, he was assassinated at the instigation of the Taiban, that is yet one more reason to forcefully denounce the killing. We in Pakistan are familiar with politicians being assassinated for ideological reasons and we can empathise — former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, too, was killed by his own bodyguard.

The assassination shows the folly of Nato’s Afghanistan policy and hints at the turmoil that will follow as the US gradually withdraws its troops. Nato has relied far too heavily on individuals rather than building institutions. It has compounded that mistake by having a preference for individuals who were unencumbered by the rule of law. In an ideal world, Ahmed Karzai’s assassination would cause the US and its allies to rethink this obviously failed policy. But after a decade in Afghanistan, the US seems ready to call it a day. Ultimately, Karzai most likely died in vain.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2011.