Top Afghan leaders killed in attack that misses U.S. commander

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — One of the most devastating Taliban assassination strikes of the long Afghan war killed top leaders of Kandahar province Thursday, in an attack that missed the top U.S. commander in the country, Gen. Austin S. Miller.

In the provincial governor’s compound in Kandahar City, at least one attacker fatally shot the region’s powerful police chief, Gen. Abdul Raziq, as well as the provincial governor and intelligence chief, and wounded three Americans, Afghan officials said.

Agha Lalay Datagiri, the deputy governor of Kandahar, confirmed the deaths of Raziq, Gov. Zalmai Wesa, and the province’s intelligence chief, Gen. Abdul Momin. The U.S. military released a statement confirming that Miller, who was in the compound at the time of the attack, was not hurt, and that three Americans had been wounded.

Other officials, however, said that the governor’s death was not confirmed, and that he might be wounded. There were also conflicting reports about the fate of Gen. Nabi Elham, the police commander for the southern zone with responsibility for several provinces.

In a brief televised message, President Ashraf Ghani said that he had dispatched his intelligence chief and other senior officials to Kandahar to investigate the situation.

“I promise the Afghan people that soon the situation will get normal in Kandahar,” Ghani said.

It was not clear if there had been more than one gunman, but he suggested that it could have been an insider attack, carried out by a turncoat among the Afghan security personnel there.

“It’s hard to know who opened fire, but it comes from security guards accompanying the officials,” Datagiri said. “It’s believed that one of the governor’s guards opened fire, but it is not yet confirmed.”

In a statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had specifically been aimed at Raziq and Miller.

Coming just 48 hours before nationwide parliamentary elections, the loss of the Kandahar leadership casts a further shadow on a political season already marred by violence. One third of polling stations will not open because of security.