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Afghanistan: Karzai half-brother 'assassinated' | Afghanistan: Karzai half-brother 'assassinated' |
(40 minutes later) | |
The half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been killed in an assassination attempt, officials say. | The half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been killed in an assassination attempt, officials say. |
Ahmad Wali Karzai, the younger half-brother of the Afghan president and leader of the Kandahar Provincial Council, was shot dead, presidential spokesmen Waheed Omar told the BBC. | |
Initial reports suggest he was shot by his bodyguard in his house in Kandahar. | Initial reports suggest he was shot by his bodyguard in his house in Kandahar. |
A controversial politician, some saw him as a defender of Pashtun rights. | A controversial politician, some saw him as a defender of Pashtun rights. |
Critics said he was a warlord mired in corruption who was openly involved in the drugs trade and had a personal militia at his disposal. | |
The president repeatedly had defended him, denouncing accusations that his brother was involved in criminal activities. | |
Previous assassination attempts | |
Following Tuesday morning's shooting, the body of Ahmad Wali Karzai, who was born in 1961, was taken to a nearby hospital. | |
He was a staunch ally of US and allied forces in Afghanistan, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul, to the extent that they turned a blind eye to accusations he was involved in drug trafficking. | |
It is hard to overstate how important he was in the south of Afghanistan and in Nato's efforts to combat the Taliban in their stronghold there, adds our correspondent. | |
International forces in Afghanistan have expressed shock at the killing. There has been no word yet from the Afghan president himself. | |
Ahmad Wali Karzai had survived attempts on his life before, most recently in a rocket and machine gun attack in 2009 as his convoy was travelling towards Kabul. | |
The previous year, he was chairing a meeting in a government building when a bomb-filled fuel tanker exploded close by. | |
Although Mr Karzai escaped unhurt, six people were killed and 40 wounded in the blast. | |
He and other officials blamed Taliban militants for the bombing. | |
In 2003, Mr Karzai's house in Kandahar city was hit by an explosion which he said was caused accidentally when some weapons were being moved. | |
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