Blast hits Karzai brother service

14 July 2011 Last updated at 18:48 GMT The BBC's Bilal Sarwary was a street away when the explosion happened

A suicide bomber has killed four people at a memorial service in Kandahar for the assassinated half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Officials say the bomber apparently hid explosives in his turban and detonated them near the entrance of the mosque.

President Karzai was not present at the memorial. Four of his other brothers were but escaped unharmed.

Ahmad Wali Karzai, a controversial but key figure in Nato's battle against the Taliban, was killed by his bodyguard.

President Karzai flew into Kandahar for his brother's funeral on Wednesday, but left the city before Thursday's service.

No group has so far admitted carrying out the mosque attack.

The governor of Kandahar province, Toryalai Wesa, said 15 people were injured.

Another explosion later hit the Herat Bazaar in the centre of Kandahar, killing one person and injuring several others, said the city's police chief.

Chaos and panic

The explosion in the Red Mosque took place just after noon (0730 GMT) in the southern Afghan city, as the service for Ahmad Wali Karzai was coming to an end.

Continue reading the main story Bilal Sarwary BBC News, Kandahar

Herat Bazaar is in the heart of Kandahar.

Several shopkeepers said as soon as the bomb there went off, they closed their shops.

Attacks in recent weeks have affected business, they said.

One trader said he used to export a great deal of dried fruit but the Pakistani and Indian buyers were no longer visiting.

As soon it gets dark, shops close and people go home.

Locals say property prices have plummeted in Kandahar. One merchant said a plot in the upscale township of Ayno Meena cost $300,000 (?186,000) not long ago, but was now available for $250,000.

The township, which is home to senior government officials, merchants and wealthy Afghans, has seen several explosions recently.

Some residents suggested that criminals, rival gangs and private feuds were behind the violence, not the Taliban.

The security situation remains fragile in Kandahar city.

Officials say the attacker was stopped at the mosque's entrance, where he blew himself up.

Witnesses, including President Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omer, said he had hidden the explosives in his turban. Provincial intelligence chief Gen Mohammad Naeem Momin told the Associated Press that early investigations supported the reports.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kandahar said that security was not as tight as it could have been around the mosque.

Tradition dictates that mourners are not searched when attending memorials, says our correspondent, and several tribal elders told him they had not been searched.

The interior ministry and medical sources said four people and the bomber had been killed.

Among those killed was Hikmatullah Hikmat, the head of Kandahar's Ulema Council, said the ministry. The council is an influential body of clerics in charge of regulating religious issues in the province.

The ministry said a child was also among the dead.

"There was a prayer going on and after that prayer, the man came close to the director of the religious council and exploded," said Kandahar Governor Wesa.

Officials say the casualty figures could have been much higher had the attacker been able to get inside the mosque itself, says our correspondent.

Four of President Karzai's brothers, several other Karzai family members and Mr Wesa were in the mosque at the time. None were believed to have been hurt.

Appeal to Taliban

Ahmad Wali Karzai was shot twice by his family friend and long-time head of security, Sardar Mohammad, on Tuesday. The bodyguard was himself killed almost immediately.

The Taliban said the attack was one of their top achievements in 10 years of war. However, correspondents say the bodyguard's motives remain unclear and it seems unlikely that someone so close to the Karzai family was working for the insurgents.

Ahmad Wali Karzai was seen by many as a key anti-Taliban figure, someone who stood up to them, using his private army and vast network to fight the insurgents, our correspondent says.

But he adds that his critics accused him of undermining the central government in Kabul.

Security was tight during Wednesday's funeral

On Wednesday, President Karzai wept at the graveside, and kissed his dead half-brother's face as senior politicians looked on.

The president then appealed to the militants to stop the bloodshed.

"My message for the Taliban is, my countryman, my brother, stop killing your own people," said Mr Karzai. "It's easy to kill and everyone can do it, but the real man is the one who can save people's lives."

Tuesday's killing was the latest and most high-profile in a series of assassinations of senior politicians and security commanders across the country.

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Karzai weeps at brother's funeral

13 July 2011 Last updated at 09:40 GMT The BBC's Quentin Sommerville says security was tight at the funeral

Thousands have joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai to mourn at the funeral of his half-brother near Kandahar.

Ahmad Wali Karzai, a controversial but key figure in Nato's battle against the Taliban, was gunned down at home by his bodyguard on Tuesday.

The weeping president climbed into the grave to kiss his brother's forehead before appealing to Taliban militants to stop their violent uprising.

Reports suggest an explosion hit an official car after the funeral.

AP news agency reported two of Helmand provincial governor Gulab Mangal's entourage were injured when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb outside Kandahar.

Security was tight, with helicopters overhead and many troops deployed.

Karzai was shot twice by his family friend and long-time head of security, Sardar Mohammed, who was himself killed almost immediately, in an attack claimed by the Taliban as one of their top achievements in 10 years of war.

Corrupt warlord?

Bus-loads of mourners followed the body from the provincial governor of Kandahar's compound to his family village of Karz, some 20km (12 miles) away.

At the graveside, Hamid Karzai wept and kissed his dead half-brother's face as senior politicians looked on, before appealing to the militants to stop the bloodshed.

"My message for [the Taliban] is that my countryman, my brother, stop killing your own people," said Mr Karzai. "It's easy to kill and everyone can do it, but the real man is the one who can save people's lives."

Tuesday's killing was the latest and most high-profile in a series of assassinations of senior politicians and security commanders across the country.

Ahmad Wali Karzai in April talking about death threats against him in the BBC documentary Afghanistan: The Unknown Country

It has raised questions about how to ensure the security of Afghanistan's top officials, while leaving a political vacuum in the country's south that many fear will play into Taliban hands.

"The reality in the south is that we have the drug problem, we have the insurgency problems, we have weak governance and we have a disaffected population," said former MP Daoud Sultanzoy.

"So when you look at all these things, the mishmash of capabilities of one person to deal with all these things is a very, very important trait in anybody who can come and fill this void."

Ahmad Wali Karzai could be replaced by one strong figure connected to the local tribal elite - possibly another of the president's brothers - or several bureaucrats, Mr Sultanzoy told the BBC's World Today programme.

Sleeper agent killer?

Questions are being asked about how Kandahar's Mr Fix-it had his own security compromised, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.

The Taliban say the killer was a sleeper agent, and that their intention was to make it more difficult for the Afghan government to exert control over the restive region.

Continue reading the main story 28 May: Gen Mohammad Daud Daud, police commander for northern Afghanistan, killed in provincial governor's compound in Takhar15 April: Khan Mohammad Mujahid, police chief of Kandahar province, killed in attack on police HQ13 April: Pro-government tribal elder Haji Malik Zarin killed in attack in Kunar province10 March: Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili, police chief of Kunduz province, killed in Kunduz city29 Jan: Abdul Latif Ashna, deputy governor of Kandahar province, dies in attack on convoy in Kandahar city7 Jan: Border police commander Haji Ramzan Aka killed in Spin BoldakWhile the bodyguard's motives remain unclear, it seems unlikely that someone so close to the Karzai family was working for the insurgents, says our correspondent. Ahmad Wali Karzai stood accused of many things, from drug trafficking to large-scale corruption.

He had many enemies beyond the Taliban, and others in a criminal network may be to blame for his death, our correspondent adds.

Critics said Ahmad Wali Karzai was a warlord mired in corruption who was openly involved in the drugs trade and had a personal militia at his disposal.

His supporters saw him as a defender of Pashtun rights. The president repeatedly defended him, denouncing accusations that his brother was involved in criminal activities.

It is hard to overstate how important Ahmad Wali Karzai was in the south of Afghanistan and in Nato's efforts to combat the Taliban in their stronghold there, says our correspondent.

As head of the Kandahar Provincial Council, Ahmad Wali Karzai was a staunch ally of US and allied forces in Afghanistan - to the extent that they turned a blind eye to accusations he was involved in drug-trafficking, he adds.

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