Afghanistan Mosque Bombing Kills Kabul Police Chief, 16 Others

JUS News Desk | June 1, 2005

An explosion has occurred at the Abdul Rub Akhundzadar Mosque in Afghanistan at about 9 a.m. local time during a ceremony to mourn the death of a cleric, Mullah Abdul Fiyaz who was killed by gunmen three days ago. Kabul police chief General Akram Khakrizwal was among 17 killed in the blast.

According to wire reports, a martyr wearing a military outfit, suspected to be a foreigner, approached the police chief when he was inside the mosque and suddenly blew himself up. Another 36 people were reported injured according to early reports in.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, widely viewed as a US puppet whose rule is confined to Kabul, has recently sought more support from the US particularly, specifically an increase in troops due to the rising activities of the Taliban however to date the US has not agreed to any additional troop deployment with their military stretched thin in Iraq. Currently 18,000 US troops are in Afghanistan.

Afghan police boosted security in Kandahar following the blast, setting up checkpoints and increasing patrols according to the wires. Investigations are under way, and it isn't known if the Taliban were responsible for the attack however Taliban spokesman Taliban spokesman, Mullah Latif Hakimi, said in a telephone call to APress that the group was not responsible for the bombing.

No direct reports have yet been received.

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