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Muslim leader, US soldier killed in Afghanistan

Oxfam suspends operations in Badakhshan following death of staff, volunteer in roadside bomb attack

  • AP
  • Published: 00:00 September 2, 2010
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Gulf News

Kabul : A Muslim religious leader was killed by a bomb attack and a US service member died in fighting on Wednesday in turbulent southern Afghanistan, officials said.

Aid group Oxfam, meanwhile, said it was suspending operations in the northeastern province of Badakhshan following the deaths of two employees and a local volunteer in a roadside bomb attack.

Also on Wednesday, Afghanistan's central bank tried to shore up confidence in Kabul Bank, the country's biggest financial institution, after its top executives resigned amid allegations of mismanagement and corruption.

The Muslim leader, Mohammad Hassan Taimuri, was killed in Kandahar city by a remote-detonated bomb hidden on a motorcycle that exploded in a downtown square, Kandahar police chief Sher Mohammad Zazai said. One other person was killed in the attack and two people were wounded, Zazai said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and it was not clear why anyone would target Taimuri, who was responsible for managing Islamic religious institutions and arranging pilgrimages to the holy cities of Makkah and Madina. Muslims are obligated to make the pilgrimage, known as the haj, at least once in a lifetime.

However, Taliban insurgents who are highly active in Kandahar routinely target government figures and institutions, often indiscriminately.

The city is a longtime stronghold of the hard-line Islamist movement and the focus of the American-led operation against the insurgents.

Death toll

Nato gave no other information about the US serviceman's death, the first of the new month and the 20th in less than five days.

The US death toll for August stood at 56 — three-quarters of them in the second half of the month as the Taliban fought back against US pressure.

Oxfam also gave no details about the three Afghans killed, but said it was reviewing security arrangements and had no plans to suspend its overall operations in Afghanistan, which range from running schools to distributing livestock.

Badakhshan's deputy governor, Shamsul Rahman, said the three were killed on Saturday when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb suspected to have been set by Taliban insurgents.

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