A Top Aide to Karzai Is Killed

Less than one week after Hamid Karzai’s half brother was shot to death, Jan Mohammad Khan, a senior adviser to the Afghan president, was killed by gunmen at his home. The Taliban claimed responsibility. A spokesman for the Taliban said Khan was killed for aiding NATO coalition forces in night attacks against Afghans. —ARK

The Guardian:

Gunmen strapped with explosives killed a close adviser to Afghan president Hamid Karzai and a member of parliament on Sunday in another insurgent strike against the Afghan leader’s inner circle.

Jan Mohammad Khan was an adviser to Karzai on tribal issues and was close to the president, a fellow Pashtun.

His killing, which the Taliban claimed responsibility for, came less than a week after the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s half brother and one of the most powerful men in southern Afghanistan.

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President Hamid Karzai has expressed anger over NATO raids that have killed Afghans who were guilty of no crimes against the United States or Afghanistan.