Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Hajj Rulings
Hajj Fatwas
At least 23 people, including the deputy head of Afghanistan's intelligence service, have been killed in a suicide attack in the country's east.
Abdullah Laghmani was killed in an attack on Wednesday, while visiting tribal elders near his home in Laghman province, sources have told Al Jazeera.
Sayed Ahmad Safi, the provincial governor's spokesman, said that at least 23 people had been killed and confirmed that Laghmani was among the dead.
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said: "Behind the scenes Laghmani was key ... his death will be a big blow to the Afghan government and their fight against the Taliban."
Several other government officials were also thought to have been killed.
Targeted attack
The attack came as a group government officials were inaugurating a mosque in the city of Mehterlam, 100m east of Kabul, the Afghans capital.
"There was a suicide attack outside Mehterlam mosque. There are a big number of civilian deaths. A number of government officials have also been killed," Zemarai Bashary, an interior ministry spokesman, said.
An official at the Afghan health ministry said at least 10 bodies had been brought into hospitals with 36 people wounded.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted senior officials.
An Associated Press photographer at the site said US troops and Afghan officials had surrounded the blast site.
The photographer said that several vehicles had been destroyed.
The attack underscores the increasing security problem in Afghanistan.
PHOTO CAPTION
Afghan police survey the site of a blast in Ghazni province, south of Kabul, August 30, 2009.
Al-Jazeera
