Gul RahimOctober 10, 2010
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In this photo taken on April 12, 2010, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, left, and Kunduz Governor Mohammed Omar attend a meeting with elders in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Omar was among many killed in a bomb blast at a mosque in Takhar province on Friday.
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan: An outspoken governor who repeatedly warned of the expansion of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in his region has been killed along with 19 others when a bomb ripped through the mosque where he attended the weekly prayer.
Mohammad Omar (pictured), who was governor of Kunduz, one of the provinces of northern Afghanistan most troubled by Taliban insurgents, was killed by the bomb in the town of Taloqan on Friday.
Mr Omar, who had survived one other assassination attempt, was believed to have been the target of the bomb. This latest attack highlights growing violence in the north just as recent reports show Taliban forces are close to collapse in the south.
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Mr Omar was the third government official in the past two months to be assassinated in the region. In August and September, district governors were killed in Kunduz and Baghlan provinces. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying that detonating a bomb in a mosque was "a crime against Islam and humanity".
Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary updated the police's initial death toll of 15, saying: "We have 20 people martyred and 15 others injured. The dead include the governor."
Authorities were investigating to determine whether the attack was by a suicide bomber or a planted device.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion fell on Islamist groups fighting the Western-backed Afghan government for the past nine years.
Mr Omar had repeatedly warned that the Taliban and al-Qaeda were expanding in Kunduz and he had called for security reinforcements.
The slain governor was a well-known jihadi commander who was allied with the conservative commander turned politician Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf. Although he received mixed reviews as governor, with some accusing him of failing to clamp down on corruption, he was respected for his days as a fighter. He was Kunduz governor for seven years.
Local hospital doctor Mohammad Hassan Baseej said 33 people had been admitted with injuries after the mosque attack.
Violence has increased in recent years in the north, which was once considered relatively peaceful compared with Taliban flashpoints in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
More than 152,000 US-led NATO forces are deployed in Afghanistan and are focused on the south as they try to reverse the Taliban insurrection and shore up Mr Karzai's government.
NATO lost three soldiers in attacks on Friday, bringing the number of foreign troops killed to 567 this year – the deadliest on record since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
In eastern Afghanistan, police said NATO helicopters had killed six community police on Friday, which led to dozens of Afghans demonstrating in Khost. Police sought to calm the demonstrators' anger and NATO said it was sending a team to investigate the deaths.
Khost provincial police chief Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai told the demonstrators that a unit of community police, a militia-style force launched to fight Taliban insurgents in remote villages, had opened fire on a NATO helicopter. (smh.com.au)
Mohammad Omar (pictured), who was governor of Kunduz, one of the provinces of northern Afghanistan most troubled by Taliban insurgents, was killed by the bomb in the town of Taloqan on Friday.
Mr Omar, who had survived one other assassination attempt, was believed to have been the target of the bomb. This latest attack highlights growing violence in the north just as recent reports show Taliban forces are close to collapse in the south.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Mr Omar was the third government official in the past two months to be assassinated in the region. In August and September, district governors were killed in Kunduz and Baghlan provinces. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying that detonating a bomb in a mosque was "a crime against Islam and humanity".
Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary updated the police's initial death toll of 15, saying: "We have 20 people martyred and 15 others injured. The dead include the governor."
Authorities were investigating to determine whether the attack was by a suicide bomber or a planted device.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion fell on Islamist groups fighting the Western-backed Afghan government for the past nine years.
Mr Omar had repeatedly warned that the Taliban and al-Qaeda were expanding in Kunduz and he had called for security reinforcements.
The slain governor was a well-known jihadi commander who was allied with the conservative commander turned politician Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf. Although he received mixed reviews as governor, with some accusing him of failing to clamp down on corruption, he was respected for his days as a fighter. He was Kunduz governor for seven years.
Local hospital doctor Mohammad Hassan Baseej said 33 people had been admitted with injuries after the mosque attack.
Violence has increased in recent years in the north, which was once considered relatively peaceful compared with Taliban flashpoints in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
More than 152,000 US-led NATO forces are deployed in Afghanistan and are focused on the south as they try to reverse the Taliban insurrection and shore up Mr Karzai's government.
NATO lost three soldiers in attacks on Friday, bringing the number of foreign troops killed to 567 this year – the deadliest on record since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
In eastern Afghanistan, police said NATO helicopters had killed six community police on Friday, which led to dozens of Afghans demonstrating in Khost. Police sought to calm the demonstrators' anger and NATO said it was sending a team to investigate the deaths.
Khost provincial police chief Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai told the demonstrators that a unit of community police, a militia-style force launched to fight Taliban insurgents in remote villages, had opened fire on a NATO helicopter. (smh.com.au)
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