Afghan war: Mayor of Kandahar killed in suicide attack
Baku, July 27 (AZERTAC). The mayor of the volatile Afghan city of Kandahar, Ghulam Haidar Hameedi, has been killed in a suicide attack, officials say.
The attacker detonated explosives in his turban as the mayor made an address at the city hall, police said.
Two weeks ago, President Hamid Karzai`s influential half-brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was killed in the same city.
The violence comes as Nato forces begin the handover of security to local troops in parts of the country.
The Taliban said they had carried out the attack.
Correspondents say Mr Hameedi had been speaking to tribal elders who had come to discuss a land dispute when the attack took place.
The attacker infiltrated the group and detonated the explosives. Mr Hameedi was killed instantly, while the attacker and a civilian were also killed.
The mayor had ordered the destruction of about 200 houses in the Loyawala area of Kandahar as they had been built illegally, and two children had been killed as they were knocked down on Tuesday, security sources said.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the Taliban killed the mayor to avenge the deaths of the children killed during the demolition work, according to AP news agency.
The assassination is the latest in a string of attacks on influential officials in the country.
Earlier this month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai`s brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, one of the most powerful men in southern Afghanistan, was killed in Kandahar city.
His death prompted renewed fears over stability in Kandahar, seen as a critical area in the fight against the Taliban.
`Resilience`
The BBC`s Bilal Sarwary says Mr Hameedi had returned to Afghanistan from the US in 2006 at the personal request of President Karzai.
He was seen as one of the most competent and trusted politicians in the city, our correspondent adds.
The mayor survived an attack on his car in 2009, but his last two deputy mayors were both killed in 2010.
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said the US "condemned in the strongest possible terms the death of another top government official", and expressed his condolences.
He said it was "another indication again of both the challenges that Afghanistan faces but also the extraordinary resilience of the Afghan government and people".
Less than a week after Ahmad Wali Karzai`s killing, a senior aide to Mr Karzai, Jan Mohammad Khan, died in an attack on his home in Kabul.
Kandahar was the country`s designated capital during Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001 and has been the centre of the group`s insurgency since they were overthrown in the US-led invasion.
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