4 foreign, Afghan teams probing Kandahar assault

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Presidential Advisor Daud Gulzar on Wednesday said that initial investigations into the bomb attack on a guesthouse inside the governor’s house in Kandahar City had been completed.  

Gulzar heads a high-level delegation to investigate all aspects of the blast that killed and wounded several individuals, including Afghan and foreign diplomats. He said the incident was of complex nature.

Eleven people, including five diplomats from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), were killed and 18 others wounded in the powerful blast a couple of weeks ago. The UAE ambassador and the Kandahar governor were among those wounded. The deputy governor and other senior officials were among the dead.

Gulzar said the incident was complicated and, therefore, key officials could be investigated. Officials from the CEO Secretariat, Defence Ministry, Interior Ministry, National Directorate of Security (NDS), parliament, Attorney-General Office are part of the commission.

In an exclusive talk with Pajhwok Afghan News, Gulzar said he had travelled to Kandahr to investigate the incident from different angles, assisting and condoling with victims’ families and meeting elders and provincial council members.

He added Afghan, UAE, NATO teams, as well as the Scotland Yard officials, were probing the assault in close coordination. It was too early to say anything the result of the probe, because detainees were still being investigated, he said. Some materials collected from the site are being examined.

He said the government was serious about the investigations, whose result would be made public by the investigating teams. The attack had raised multiple questions, Gulzar said, insisting Afghanistan had been a victim of terrorism and needed global help in the war against terrorism.

While hailing the UAE reaction to the carnage, Gulzar claimed 98 percent of terror attacks in Afghanistan were carried out by Pakistan. He called the ongoing conflict a war among regional spy networks.

He insisted the Kandahar assault had been planned outside Afghanistan and explosives used in the blast were imported.

Last week, Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq told reporters tens of suspects, including security officials, had been arrested in connection with the attack. He said initial investigation showed the explosives had been placed inside couches.

Razeq accused Pakistan’s main intelligence agency of plotting the attack and said the blast was planned months ago. The Pakistanis wanted to kill the entire leadership of Kandahar, he alleged.

nh/mud

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