A suicide bomber slipped into the Red Mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan‘s second largest city, detonating explosives concealed in his turban at about. The blast killed Maulavi Hekmatullah Hekmat, the head of the Kandahar religious Council, the supreme government religious authority in the volatile southern province, and at least 2 other people.
At the time of the explosion, the mosque was filled with tribal leaders and government officials mourning Ahmed Wali Karzai, the provincial council chief who was assassinated on Tuesday by a security aide.
President Karzai was in Kabul at the time of the blast, and his brother Shah Karzai, appointed on Wednesday to succeed Ahmed, was unhurt, said the presidential representative.
It was unclear if the Taliban orchestrated the attack. Taliban representatives could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. The Taliban have assassinated other members of the religious Council, accusing them of betraying Islam because they work with the government and the US-led coalition.
Central government officials who had arrived in Kandahar for Ahmed Wali Karzai’s funeral and the mourning ceremony were quickly evacuated from the southern city and were leaving to board a flight to Kabul 30 minutes after the blast.
Afghanistan‘s intelligence service said in a statement that they arrested four insurgents who were plotting terrorist attacks planned for government officials in Kandahar. It was unclear whether the suicide bomber that attacked the mosque was part of the plot but had evaded arrest.
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