BBC News Asia
25 December 2011 Last updated at 11:40 GMT
Deadly suicide attack on Afghanistan funeral in Takhar
At least 20 people have been killed in a suicide attack on a funeral procession
in the northern Afghan province of Takhar, officials say.
Police said 30 were hurt in the attack in the provincial capital, Taloqan.
Among those killed was local MP Mutalib Beg, a former commander in the
Western-backed Northern Alliance - the faction that fought against the Taliban.
Takhar is one of the provinces where Nato is handing over security duties to
Afghan forces.
The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says this is the third time a former Northern
Alliance commander has been killed in the province.
He says Matalib Beg, an ethnic Uzbek, was an influential commander and a former
police chief of Kunduz province.
There are reports that other senior officials were also at the funeral.
Although suicide attacks in the area are rare, our correspondent says an
al-Qaeda affiliated group called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan operates in
the province.
No group has said it carried out the attack, but the Taliban and the IMU are
likely to be among the main suspects.
Takhar governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa said he had been invited but had decided not
to attend.
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