The police chief and intelligence head of the southern Afghan province of Kandahar have been killed in a shooting attack, officials say, in a major blow to the Western-backed government in Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the October 18 assault in the provincial capital, also named Kandahar, which came just two days before parliamentary elections. Afghan officials told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that a bodyguard opened fire after a high-level security meeting in the governor's compound. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, was present at the gathering but was unhurt, said NATO Resolute Support spokesman Grant Neely. However, Kandahar Province's police chief General Abdul Raziq -- one of Afghanistan's most powerful commanders, with a fearsome reputation as an enemy of the Taliban -- and provincial intelligence head Abdul Momin Hassankhail were shot and killed. “Today I lost a great friend Lt. Gen. Raziq. We had served together for many years. Afghanistan lost a patriot, my condolences to the people of Afghanistan. The good he did for Afghanistan and the Afghan people cannot be undone,” Colonel Dave Butler, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, quoted Miller as saying. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said he was “deeply saddened" by Raziq's death, whom he described as a "great patriot," a "close friend," and a "hero" of the war against terrorism. An Afghan journalist working for state media also died in the attack, according to NAI, a group supporting open media in the country. There were conflicting reports about the fate of Kandahar Governor Zalmai Wesa, with some reports saying he was also killed. However, Deputy Interior Minister Akhtar Mohammad Ebrahimi said Wesa was wounded. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in a short speech confirmed the deaths of the police and intelligence chiefs, but didn't mention the governor. Butler said "three Americans were wounded, have been medically evacuated and are stable." He also said the gunman had been killed and that Afghan officials were the "target of the violence." The Taliban claimed responsibility in a statement, saying, "The brutal police chief of Kandahar has been killed along several other officials." "The target was General Miller and General Raziq," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter. Fearsome Reputation A close ally of the U.S. military, Raziq, has been credited with pacifying large swaths of Kandahar but has been accused by human rights groups of gross human rights violations, including forcible disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings. "We strongly condemn this terrorist attack & stand united in our unshaken resolve to fight terrorism. The struggle continues," Abdullah, Afghanistan's chief executive, wrote in a tweet. Around 14,000 U.S. troops are currently in Afghanistan, and Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner told the Reuters news agency that the attack in Kandahar "will not change U.S. resolve in our South Asia strategy, if anything it makes us more resolute." The Pakistani military condemned the Kandahar “incident,” saying it wishes to see the "Afghan and other security forces succeeding to bring an end to this prolonged violence in Afghanistan." "Peace in Afghanistan is essential for peace in the region. Support all initiatives towards this end,” it added. Afghanistan is on high alert ahead of the long-delayed parliamentary elections on October 20, after the Taliban pledged to block the vote. More than 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament. The run-up to the elections has been marred by deadly militant attacks and targeted killings of candidates, 10 of whom have been killed so far. With reporting by Reuters and AFP<doc-sep>He was considered as one of the strongest opponents of the Taliban and Pakistan and had transformed himself into a symbol of the anti-Taliban struggle in Afghanistan. He had previously survived nearly 20 attempts on his life.<doc-sep>A powerful Afghan police general has been assassinated in an insider attack, robbing president Ashraf Ghani of a key security official and threatening his fragile grip on southern Afghanistan. Gen Abdul Razik was shot dead alongside the Kandahar spy chief and provincial governor shortly after a meeting with the top US military commander in the country. The Taliban said they were behind the attack which saw one of the provincial governor's bodyguards open fire after a meeting with Gen Scott Miller, the top Nato and US commander in Afghanistan. Gen Miller was unhurt, but two Americans were wounded. The assassination dealt a severe blow to Mr Ghani's security forces less than 48 hours before he attempts to hold nationwide parliamentary elections against a backdrop of brutal insurgent violence. Gen Raziq had been the most powerful government figure in southern Afghanistan for much of the past decade, where as Kandahar police chief he had been an aggressive opponent of the Taliban.<doc-sep>General Raziq was the third of the last four Kandahar police chiefs to be killed on the job. Mr. Smith said he had brought a measure of calm to a city that was experiencing daily explosions when he took command of the province’s police force in 2011. But his methods, he said, often involved “a savage campaign” against the Taliban, tactics that were celebrated in the city but terrified people in the countryside. General Raziq was 17 when he picked up a gun, and for years he was known to boast about Taliban body counts. But he mellowed in recent years, the war visibly changing him. “I was a young man and then thought it was a good thing,” General Raziq said in an interview in 2015. “But I have come to despise it. I have come to realize this can’t be done through death and blood.” Initially, there were conflicting reports about whether the Kandahar governor, Zalmai Wesa, and Gen. Nabi Elham, a police commander responsible for several provinces, had survived the attack. General Ibrahimi said both “are wounded but are under medical operation,” but other officials, including one of Mr. Wesa’s deputies, Agha Lalay Datagiri, said the governor had been killed. Other officials said the police commander had been injured. In a brief televised message, President Ashraf Ghani said he had dispatched his intelligence chief and other senior officials to Kandahar to investigate the shootings. “I promise the Afghan people that soon the situation will get normal in Kandahar,” Mr. Ghani said. The loss of General Raziq casts a further shadow on a political season already marred by bloodshed. One-third of polling stations will not open because of security concerns, and at least 10 candidates and dozens of their supporters have been killed. The Taliban have threatened to attack polling places.<doc-sep>
General Abdul Razeq, one of Afghanistan's most powerful security officials, has been killed after a bodyguard opened fire following a meeting in the Governor's compound in the southern province of Kandahar. Key points: General Razeq had a fearsome reputation as a ruthless opponent of the Taliban General Razeq had a fearsome reputation as a ruthless opponent of the Taliban General Scott Miller, the top US commander, was also at the meeting but was uninjured General Scott Miller, the top US commander, was also at the meeting but was uninjured The Taliban is claiming responsibility and says both generals were targeted General Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan who had been at the meeting with General Razeq only moments earlier, was uninjured in the attack, but the local commander of the NDS intelligence service was killed and the provincial governor was severely wounded. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted both Generals Miller and General Razeq, who had a fearsome reputation as a ruthless opponent of the insurgents. The attack was a devastating blow to the Afghan Government ahead of parliamentary elections on Saturday, which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt. "The brutal police chief of Kandahar has been killed along with several other officials," a Taliban statement said. General Razeq was criticised by human rights groups but highly respected by US officers who saw him as one of Afghanistan's most effective leaders, largely responsible for keeping Kandahar province under control. A flamboyant commander, he had survived several attempts on his life over many years and narrowly escaped an attack last year in which five diplomats from the United Arab Emirates were killed in Kandahar. The attack underlined how precarious the situation remains in Afghanistan even after Taliban and US officials had opened preliminary contacts aimed at establishing the basis for future peace talks. Officials said General Razeq and General Miller and the other officials were walking towards a landing zone as the helicopter taking the US General's party back to Kabul approached to land when the gunman, who was waiting outside, opened fire on the group. "Provincial officials including the Governor, the police chief and other officials were accompanying the foreign guests to the plane when the gunshots happened," said Said Jan Khakrezwal, the head of the provincial council. NATO spokesman Colonel Knut Peters said General Miller, who took command of US and forces and the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan last month, was uninjured but two Americans were wounded in the crossfire. Reuters