10 Afghan Policemen Killed, Blast Hits Home of Afghan Leader's Brother

19/08/2003| IslamWeb

At least 10 Afghani policemen, including a police chief, were killed in a province south of Kabul in the latest incident in a spate of violence that has claimed more than 90 lives in the past week, officials said on Tuesday. Abdul Khaliq, police chief of Logar province, and several other senior police officers from the province were among those killed in an ambush in Kharwar district on Monday, Logar's military commander, said Afghani official. Khaliq had been returning from a funeral in Kharwar for two family members of a police officer who were killed in a rocket attack blamed on the Taliban, Mojadidi said. "I am told they were in their cars when the incident happened," Mojadidi said. "There is no doubt that the Taliban were behind it." **Blast Hits Home of Afghan Leader's Brother*** Meanwhile, an explosion ripped through the home of the brother of President Hamid Karzai, causing no injuries but sending clouds of black smoke billowing from the sprawling compound in southern Afghanistan. Police initially said the blast at Ahmed Wali Karzai's house was a bomb, but a presidential spokesman later said it was caused by the accidental detonation of explosive materials being transported at the site. The president's brother was not at home at the time. "It wasn't a bomb that exploded in the house. Some munitions accidentally went off. It was just ... a servant who was moving small arms munitions and it suddenly for some reason exploded," spokesman Jawid Luddin told The Associated Press. Kandahar is the traditional home of Karzai as well as the religious headquarters of the former Taliban regime. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Abdu-r-Rasheed Dostum (L) and Hamid Karzai (archive, source unknown)