A microphone bomb has killed an Afghan provincial governor last Tuesday, a high- profile assassination in recent months, as part of a campaign to intimidate Afghan administration as it readies for upcoming elections and withdrawal of foreign troops.
The microphone bomb killed governor Arsallah Jamal of the eastern Logar province as he was delivering his speech in a mosque in the capital of Puli Alam in celebration of the holiday Eid al-Adha. The blast has also injured 15 others, 5 of which in critical condition at a local hospital.
Governor Arsallah Jamal had been a close friend and confidante to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who has since condemned the bombing as an act against the Islamic faith. "Terrorists and the Taliban working in the name of Islam carry out attacks that result in the killing of innocent Muslims. Surely it is not the act of Muslims, but those who have been hired to kill Muslims," Karzai said in a statement regarding the attack.
So far, no group has come forward to claim responsibility, but the Taliban has been under suspicion for having opposed the Karzai administration and foreign military presence in Afghanistan since 2001. This year, the Taliban has made attack against government officials its main priority.
Leader of the Afghan Taliban, the secretive Mullah Mohammad Omar, has released a message in time for the Eid al-Adha holiday, urging comrades and fighters to make well on their campaign against both Afghan and NATO forces alike, encouraging all Afghans to boycott the upcoming April 5 elections that will elect the next president.
All presence of foreign military is said to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by 2014.
Arsallah Jamal had been the target of many other assassination attempts, such as suicide bombings in his office back in 2009 and a suicide car bomb attack targeting his convoy in 2007. Police officials leading the investigation say that the bomb was hidden somewhere in the microphone stand in front of Jamal.
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