http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/15801651.htm
In Afghanistan, killings are anything but random Taliban militants aim squarely for high-ranking officials and aid workers. The Associated Press KANDAHAR, Afghanistan | First, a Taliban suicide bomber killed a provincial governor. Then a gunman murdered a Women's Ministry director. A police chief, an intelligence director and a top administrator from the same eastern district were killed. Bombs were aimed at but missed two more governors elsewhere. The latest target - a provincial councilman - was slain in Kandahar this week. Taliban militants are increasingly making targets of top government officials in Afghanistan, which has seen a spike in assassinations and attempted killings the last six weeks. The attacks are forcing officials to travel with more bodyguards and to set up more checkpoints. Some government employees have stopped going to work, fearing for their lives. "The Taliban can't fight in a big group, so now they've moved on to these targeted assassinations," said Naimatullah Khan, deputy chief of the council in southern Kandahar province, whose colleague was killed last weekend. Violence has spiked in Afghanistan this year, and insurgents have adopted tactics used in Iraq, such as roadside bombings and suicide attacks. Hitting top officials appears to be part of a wider strategy of undermining President Hamid Karzai's government, which took over after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001 but still has only a feeble reach. The Taliban also have killed or abducted aid workers to stymie development and have burned down hundreds of schools. Targeted killings are nothing new in Afghanistan, Afghan officials say. Mujahedeen who fought the Soviet occupation in the 1980s used the tactic against pro-communist government officials. _____ Recent attacks Assassinations and attempted killings of government officials by Taliban militants in the last six weeks: .Sept. 10: A suicide bomber kills Gov. Abdul Hakim Taniwal of the eastern Paktia province outside his home. Another suicide bomber kills six people at his funeral the next day. .Sept. 25: Gunmen on a motorbike kill Safia Ama Jan, director for the Ministry of Women's Affairs for Kandahar province. Jan ran an underground school for girls during the Taliban's rule. .Sept. 26: A suicide bomber kills 18 people outside the provincial governor's compound in Helmand province. The governor is not hurt. .Oct. 9: The district police chief, administrator and intelligence chief are killed by a roadside bomb as they are on their way to investigate the overnight burning of a school in Khogyani district of the eastern Nangarhar province. .Oct. 14: The governor of the eastern Laghman province escapes injury after a bomb explodes outside his compound. .Oct. 15: Two gunmen on a motorbike kill a Kandahar provincial council member, Mohammad Younis Hussein, as he walks out of his house. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- 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: [email protected] 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/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
