The former president of Afghanistan, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was slain in a suicide bomb attack on Tuesday; the latest in a string of assassinations targeting high-level officials.
Rabbani was the head of the Afghan High Peace Council coalition, which is trying to negotiate a peace accord with the Taliban. As head of the recently formed council, Rabbani specifically was asked by the Afghan government to move the effort forward.
His death and last week’s militant siege on NATO’s headquarters and the American Embassy in Kabul that left 16 people dead have raised serious questions about the security situation in Afghanistan after a decade of war.
During the attack, two suicide bombers targeted Rabbani’s home in Kabul, said NATO. The High Council’s Secretary Mohammed Massoum Stanekzai was also injured in the incident.
"The face of the peace initiative has been attacked," said Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force. “This is another outrageous indicator that, regardless of what Taliban leadership outside the country says, they do not want peace, but rather war.”
After hearing of the incident, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was going to shorten his stay in the United States and would not attend the rest of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. He met briefly with President Barack Obama, both condemned the suicide attack.
“The mission that he had undertaken was vital … for the Afghan people and for the security of our country and for peace in our country,” said Karzai.
Rabbani was considered to have played a crucial role in the reconciliation efforts between Kabul and the Taliban militants, who have launched more brazen attacks in Afghanistan in recent months.
“He was one of the few people in Afghanistan with the distinction that we cannot easily find in societies. A terrible loss,” Karzai added.
His death “ will not deter us from continuing on the path that we have, and we’ll definitely succeed,” said Karzai, referring to the draw down of U.S. troops and mission to train the Afghan security forces by 2014.
The assassination could be considered the highest-profile killing since the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Several months ago, President Karzai’s half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, considered at the time as one of the most powerful men in the country, was the victim of a targeted killing claimed by the Taliban.
Obama said, “Despite this incident, we will not be deterred from creating a path whereby Afghans can live in freedom and safety and security and prosperity.”
