http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0602afghan-main02.html# <http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0602afghan-main02.html>
Attack heightens fears of terror copycats Noor Khan Associated Press Jun. 2, 2005 12:00 AM KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The suicide-bomb attack on Wednesday at the funeral of a Muslim cleric was the deadliest in Afghanistan since a surge in violence began in March, casting doubt on U.S. claims that it is stabilizing the country and reinforcing fears that militants are copying the tactics of those in Iraq. Hundreds of mourners were crowded inside the mosque for the funeral of Abdul Fayaz in the city of Kandahar when the bomber struck. President Hamid Karzai condemned the assault, which killed 20 people, including Kabul's police chief, as an "act of cowardice by the enemies of Islam and the enemies of the peace of Afghan people" and ordered an investigation. Parts of the bomber's body were found, and Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha Sherzai said the attacker belonged to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. "The attacker was a member of al-Qaida. We have found documents on his body that show he was an Arab," Sherzai said. "We had an intelligence report that Arab al-Qaida teams had entered Afghanistan and had been planning terrorist attacks." A purported Taliban spokesman, Latif Hakimi, said in a telephone call to the Associated Press that the rebels were not responsible for the bombing. Hakimi often calls news organizations, usually to claim responsibility for attacks on behalf of the former regime. His information has sometimes proved untrue or exaggerated, and his exact tie to the rebel leadership is not clear. Among those killed Wednesday was Kabul police chief Gen. Akram Khakrezwal, two of his nephews and six of his bodyguards, Sherzai said. The attacker detonated the explosives after coming close to the police commander, said Interior Ministry spokesman Latfullah Mashal. Kandahar was a stronghold of the Taliban regime that was ousted from power in late 2001 by U.S.-led forces for harboring bin Laden. Col. James Yonts, the U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, condemned the blast, calling it an "atrocious act of violence upon innocent civilians and a mosque." Tension has been high in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan after deadly anti-American riots sparked by a news report, later retracted, that interrogators at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, defiled the Quran. In a second attack on Wednesday, a bomb exploded on a bridge west of Kandahar as a group of Afghan explosives experts working on a Japanese-funded de-mining project were driving over it, killing two of them and wounding five, said Patrick Fruchet, spokesman for the U.N. Mine Action Center for Afghanistan. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
