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December 16, 2009

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Afghan ex-leader may have been target

A SUICIDE car bomber struck a heavily guarded neighborhood yesterday near the home of a former Afghan vice president and a hotel favored by Westerners, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens, officials said.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said the target of the bombing was unclear, but security officials at the scene said the bomber was going after the home of former First Vice President Ahmad Zia Massoud. He is the brother of legendary anti-Taliban hero, Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was killed by al-Qaida two days before the attacks on September 11, 2001.

"Of course we were the target," said Shah Asmat, an aide to the former vice president. "Before, the Taliban killed Massoud. Now, they tried to kill his brother."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said two of Massoud's guards were among those killed in the explosion and strongly condemned the terrorist attack.


 

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