At least 7 killed, 15 injured in suicide attack in Baghlan (Afghanistan) at the eve of Eid al-Adha

KABUL, Afghanistan (Nov. 06) – Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed the death of at least seven civilian as a result of a suicide attack in Baghlan province. More than fifteen other are injured in this attack.

Suicide Attacks Rocks Old Baghlan City after Eid al-Adha Prayer

According to details; a suicide bomber blew away himself near a mosque in Old Baghlan City soon after prayers for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha had finished, ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.

Among the six people killed were two local police commanders, said Kamen Khan, the police chief in Old Baghlan City. One of them was a well-known local leader named Abdul who, like many Afghans, goes only by one name.

Although no one claimed the responsibility but it is believed to be another Taliban target.

Breaking News!!! Turban Bomb Killed Ex-Afghan President, Burhanuddin Rabbani, And His Bodyguards

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan President Hamid Karzai cut short a visit to the U.S. after assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani Tuesday night inside his Kabul home in a suicide attack.

Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani Killed in a Suicide Attack Tuesday (Sept. 20) Night

According to details; the 70-year-old Rabbani, who was appointed last year to head a peace commission set up to facilitate contacts with Taliban insurgents, was killed by a suicide bomber concealing explosives in his turban.

The suicide bomber with a big traditional turban entered Rabbani's home in the capital Kabul on Tuesday evening and blew himself up inside, said Mohammad Zahir, the chief of criminal investigation for the Kabul police.

Four of Rabbani's bodyguards also killed in the attack while a key presidential adviser was injured.

Two people, including one of the suicide bombers who was injured in the incident, have been arrested.

Mr Rabbani headed the country's High Peace Council, which was set up by the Afghan government to work toward a political solution to the decade-long war. However, it had made little headway since it was formed a year ago.

Mr Rabbani was president of the Afghan government that preceded the Taliban rule. After he was driven from Kabul in 1996, he became the nominal head of the Northern Alliance, mostly minority Tajiks and Uzbeks, who swept to power in Kabul after the Taliban's fall.

Mr Rabbani is an ethnic Tajik. His killing dampens hopes of starting peace negotiations with Taliban insurgents and also will hamper efforts to keep regional and ethnic rivalries, which feed the insurgency, in check.

As one of the wise old man of Afghan politics and the leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Mr Rabanni's role in the attempts to reach out to the Taliban and seeking a political deal with them - with the U.S. blessing - will be hard to replicate in the near future.

His death could unleash a well of resentment building up among some senior Northern Alliance members, who accuse President Hamid Karzai of colluding with the Taliban.

Already Afghanistan's ethnic minorities have begun to re-arm in the face of negotiations with the Taliban. Mr Rabbani's death is likely to accelerate the re-arming and lay the foundation for a bitter civil war once U.S. troops leave the country in 2014.

President Karzai's adviser Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai was wounded in the attack. A relative who answered Stanekzai's phone said that the wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, but Stanekzai was in the hospital. The relative declined to give his name because of the sensitivity of the situation

Mr Stanekzai is chief executive of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program, a highly touted program funded by the U.S. and its coalition allies to bring mid- and lower-level Taliban back into Afghan society. The program has so far only managed to reintegrate about 2,000 of the estimated 25,000-40,000 insurgents in Afghanistan.

Reintegration was the other half of reconciliation, which aims to try and broker a peace deal with the senior Taliban leadership.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/ex-afghan-president-burhanuddin-rabbani-killed-by-turban-bomb-135054&cp

Thirty Pakistani Boys Made Hostages by Taliban Militants on Pak-Afghan Border

Taliban fighters have kidnapped more than 30 Pakistani boys who had mistakenly crossed the unmarked border in the country's lawless northwest into Afghanistan, officials said.

Thirty Pakistani Boys Made Hostages by Taliban Militants on Pak-Afghan Border

 The incident took place on Thursday after the group of boys, aged between 12 and 18-years-old, visited the area of Gharkhi in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region for celebrations Eid al-Fitr.

"These boys inadvertently crossed into Afghanistan while picnicking on the second day of Eid and were kidnapped by militants," senior local administration official Syed Nasim told AFP.

A 'jirga' or council of tribal elders, have been sent to Afghanistan to seek their release, the official said. A TV channel in Pakistan reported that militants had arrived in five vehicles and took the children to unknown destinations.

Tribal elders also asked the local administration to step up efforts for the early release of the children. A regional TV channel in Pakistan reported that the children could be used for suicide bombings if the government and tribal elders failed to secure their release.

The parents of the children held hostage have asked the government and the tribal elders to ensure their safe return.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/militants-hold-30-pakistani-children-hostage-in-afghanistan-130857&cp

 Afghanistan shares a disputed 2,400km border with Pakistan, where Taliban fighters are believed to reside.

Eight Civilians, including 7 children and a woman, Killed in NATO Airstrike in Nad-Ali, Helmand

Eight Civilians Killed in NATO Airstrike in Nad-Ali, Helmand

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO airstrike killed nine in Nad-Ali, the district in Helmand Province (Southern Afghanistan), including seven young children and a woman.

Reportedly, a coalition patrol called in an airstrike against insurgents firing on them from a mud compound, Afghan officials said Saturday. The home belonged to Mullah Abdul Hadi, 50, a local imam who Afghan officials say was helping the Taliban. He was killed along with one of his two wives and his seven children, all younger than 7 years old, said Habibullah Shamlani, the governor of Nad-Ali.

“People from the area said the imam was involved in making I.E.D.’s,” or improvised explosive devices, Mr. Shamlani said. “We found three hand grenades in his house.”

According to statement issued by NATO; “shortly following the engagement, coalition forces received reports that civilians were being held captive by the insurgents and may have been present during the airstrike.”

NATO Helicopter Crashed in Afghanistan Killed 38 Including 31 American Special Forces Troops

KABUL, Afghanistan - A total of 31 members of the US special forces have died in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan along with seven Afghans, a statement from Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said. This is one of the worst incidents of its kind in the 10-year-old war in Afghanistan.

"The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai expressed condolences over a NATO helicopter crash and the deaths of 31 members of US special forces," the statement said.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility, saying their fighters downed the helicopter in a battle with NATO troops.