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Afghanistan
Investigations into Karzai attack
Article published on the 2008-04-28 Latest update 2008-04-28 13:57 TU
Military personnel just after the attack
(Photo: Reuters)
Investigators in Afghanistan are looking into how militants were able to get within 500 meters of President Hamid Karzai on Sunday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a rocket and gunfire attack at an annual military parade that killed three people, including lawmakers, and wounded dozens of others. The president was unharmed.
Correspondent Sardar Ahmad reports from Kabul
"There ceremony was going well. President karzai had just inspected the guard of honor... and when he took his position on the stage, suddenly we heard some unusual gunshots."
The Taliban denied the attack was an assassination attempt on the president. Instead, it claimed it was a show of strength to show it could strike even the nation’s biggest annual military parade.
Militants shot at the back of a stage where President Karzai and other leaders were seated. A leader of a minority tribe and a national parliamentarian were killed, along with a 10-year-old boy who was apparently shot in return fire.
About a dozen other Afghans were wounded. Karzai immediately announced an investigation to find out how the attackers got through increased security measures.
He praised the swift response of the security forces who shot dead three attackers in a building about 500 meters from the stage where Karzai and other officials were seated.
The attackers were armed with machine guns with attached grenade launchers. Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak said that several people were arrested who he said were "most likely involved in this terrorist attack."
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