Taliban members kill former Afghan President Rabbani

[News_Editor]

Taliban members kill former Afghan President Rabbani

2011-09-21 10:09:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated on Tuesday during a suicide attack at his residence while meeting with members of the Taliban, officials said.

At around 7:15 a.m. local time, security forces had already cordoned off Rabbani's residence, located in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood, which is in the posh locality of the Afghan capital of Kabul, where government offices and several foreign embassies are located.

Brigadier Genereal Abdul Zahir, the 101st Asmayee Zone Crime Investigation Unit's chief, confirmed the news to Pajhwok Afghan News, adding that three other members of the High Peace Council, which is chaired by Professor Rabbani, were also killed during the attack. In addition, Council Secretariat chief, Masoom Stanikzai, was also reportedly wounded during the attack.

According to reports, Rabbani, who is also the leader of the Jamiat-i-Islami, was holding a meeting with several members of the High Peace Council along with two important members of the Taliban at the time of the attack. At the meeting, one of the insurgents who reportedly placed explosives in his turban, causing the deadly blast.

Media reports cited a Taliban spokesman as saying that Rabbani was attempting to hold peace negotiations with the Taliban. However, the spokesman said the Taliban used peace negotiations as an excuse to get close to the powerful politician and kill him.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) voiced shock and sadness after Rabbani's death.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms this attack on people who were working to bring peace in Afghanistan," Ban said, reiterating the UN's commitment to supporting Afghanistan and its people in attaining peace and stability. Staffan de Mistura, the head of UNAMA and the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, meanwhile, stressed that "the search for peace must continue," adding that the mission will assist efforts to bring peace to the violence-wracked country.

Rabbani was Afghan president from 1992 to 1996, until the he was ousted by the Taliban, which took over Kabul. He was also in office briefly of around five weeks in late 2001. During his political career, he also lead the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, which was formed by various political groups who fought against Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-21

[geriatrickid]

The method was an exploding turban.

This is the 2nd such method of sucide bombing in the past month.

The implications are such that security officials will now be prudent to verify turbans. I anticipate that there will be cries of discrimination and a lack of respect for other cultures.

[Steely Dan]

The method was an exploding turban.

This is the 2nd such method of sucide bombing in the past month.

The implications are such that security officials will now be prudent to verify turbans. I anticipate that there will be cries of discrimination and a lack of respect for other cultures.

They need their heads examining! My avatar springs to mind, I wonder whether unwittingly the Danish cartoonist gave these 'militants' a new tactic? I guess the death toll from said cartoons is now 100 and counting...

[flying]

They need their heads examining! My avatar springs to mind,

Your avatar speaks volumes about you more than anything else.

sad really

[Steely Dan]

They need their heads examining! My avatar springs to mind,

Your avatar speaks volumes about you more than anything else.

sad really

Yes sad that freedom of expression, once the cornerstone of democracy is now so willingly surrendered to those who despise democracy, and even sadder they have enablers from western Countries who grew up with the benefits of said democracy.

[flying]

They need their heads examining! My avatar springs to mind,

Your avatar speaks volumes about you more than anything else.

sad really

Yes sad that freedom of expression, once the cornerstone of democracy is now so willingly surrendered to those who despise democracy, and even sadder they have enablers from western Countries who grew up with the benefits of said democracy.

I am all for freedom of expression.

How would you in a few words describe what your expressing with that avatar?

edit: disregard my question.. I see you have already described it in another thread

Edited September 21, 2011 by flying

[Steely Dan]

@Flying,

I will briefly share this anecdote. I once visited the Australian outback and Ayers rock. The guide told us we had the option of whether to climb the rock or not, but that the site was sacred to the Aborigines who would rather we didn't. I had no hesitation whatsoever in deciding not to climb. The distinction is that the Aboriginal wishes were expressed in a reasonable manner with no threat overt or hidden, so who was I not to comply?

[geriatrickid]

They need their heads examining! My avatar springs to mind,

Your avatar speaks volumes about you more than anything else.

sad really

It is an electron in orbit. Is there a cryptic message? One of the characters on my favourite comedy shows Big Bang Theory is a physicist that sometimes wears a t-shirt with such an image/.I worked in lab and the comic book loving kid next to me had two versions of the t shirt. I admit he was a bid flakey at times, but he had a genius IQ and had already discovered a trigger gene for a form of cancer. He was the only guy in our section that would take part in the nude run for funds, because he was hung like a mule. So, sorry if I just don't get the reference you make.

[Steely Dan]

They need their heads examining! My avatar springs to mind,

Your avatar speaks volumes about you more than anything else.

sad really

It is an electron in orbit. Is there a cryptic message? One of the characters on my favourite comedy shows Big Bang Theory is a physicist that sometimes wears a t-shirt with such an image/.I worked in lab and the comic book loving kid next to me had two versions of the t shirt. I admit he was a bid flakey at times, but he had a genius IQ and had already discovered a trigger gene for a form of cancer. He was the only guy in our section that would take part in the nude run for funds, because he was hung like a mule. So, sorry if I just don't get the reference you make.

Sorry Kid,

Changed the avatar today. It was a silhouette of the cartoon of Mohammed wearing an exploding turban. I changed it because it was distracting another thread into off topic territory. Looks like there's no escape today.