Election monitor is among 3 deaths in 2 Kabul attacks
KABUL, Afghanistan — Attacks in Afghanistan’s capital left at least three people dead Wednesday, including the head of an independent elections watchdog, officials said.
The country has faced relentless violence even as Taliban and Afghan government negotiators hold talks in Qatar, trying to hammer out a peace deal to put an end to decades of war.
Gunmen shot and killed Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, executive director of the nongovernmental Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan, said Ferdaws Faramarz, a spokesman for Kabul’s police chief.
The attack took place during Rasheed’s morning commute to the organization’s office in Kabul, Faramarz said. Rasheed was taken to Kabul’s Emergency Hospital, where he died. Outside, friends and colleagues gathered as news of the attack spread, and several wept when they learned he had not survived.
“He was a patient man who wouldn’t lose his temper under any circumstances,” said Omid Nawrozi, who worked with Rasheed. He said Rasheed had been scheduled to speak about the peace talks at a news conference planned for Wednesday morning.
Rasheed’s driver also died in a hospital, Faramarz said.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack, saying in a statement that Rasheed had spent many years working to institutionalize democracy and transparency in the electoral process.
“By carrying out such attacks, the enemies can not push back the current Afghanistan, which has achieved recent progress and achievements with the tireless efforts and sacrifices of the people,” he said.
Nader Nadery, who preceded Rasheed as head of the election monitoring group and now serves as a senior Afghan government official and delegate to the peace talks in Qatar, praised Rasheed’s “passion and commitment to making this a country where the people would ultimately be the decision-makers.”
Ross Wilson, the U.S.’ ranking diplomat in Afghanistan, tweeted that Rasheed was a dedicated and steadfast advocate for representative democracy in the country.
“He worked tirelessly for years to ensure free and transparent elections that engaged all Afghans,” Wilson said. “His death is a loss for his family, friends and nation.”
In a separate attack in Kabul, a police vehicle was targeted by a sticky bomb in the eastern part of the city. The blast killed a police officer and wounded two others, according to Faramarz.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for either attack, but the Islamic State militant group has said it was behind a number of attacks in Kabul in recent months, including on educational institutions. The Taliban, meanwhile, are known to cover their tracks on civilian deaths by implicating the other group.
The Islamic State took responsibility for a Tuesday attack in which a roadside bomb tore through a vehicle and killed five people, three of them doctors on their way to work at Kabul’s main penitentiary.
Among the dead was Nazefa Ibrahimi, the acting health director of the prison. Another doctor was in serious condition.
The militant group said it had targeted prison administrators. The victims’ car, a white sedan, did not appear to have any markings that indicated its passengers were medical workers.