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DOSSIER – In this archival photo of August 4, 2016, General Abdul Raziq, chief of the Kandahar Police, expresses it during an interview with The Associated Press in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Three senior Kandahar leaders, including Raziq, were killed by their own guards on Thursday, October 18, 2018, although a Taliban spokesman who claimed responsibility for it said to the Associated Press in an interview telephone that the US General Scott Miller, commander of US troops and NATO in Afghanistan was the target. Miller was not injured, but two US soldiers were injured and evacuated. (Massoud Hossaini, File / Associated Press)
KABUL, Afghanistan – Latest news on the situation in Afghanistan ahead of the country's general elections on Saturday (all times will be local):
11:50
Pakistan's two official crossing points with Afghanistan were closed for two days at the request of the Kabul government, worried about the security situation in the weekend's parliamentary elections.
In a statement issued by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, crossing points would be closed on Friday and Saturday, the election day in Afghanistan, "for all types of traffic, except for emergencies".
One of the checkpoints is in Shaman, in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, on the border with the Afghan province of Kandahar, where the powerful head of the province was assassinated Thursday as part of a bold attack claimed by the Taliban. The other pass is at Torkham, in northwestern Pakistan.
Afghanistan and the United States regularly accuse Pakistan of harboring Taliban insurgents, a charge refuted by Islamabad. Following Thursday's attack, some Afghan officials have rebelled against Pakistan, accusing its military and intelligence services of inciting Afghans to launch violent attacks on government officials. Islamabad had immediately condemned the Kandahar attack.
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11:30 am
Afghans prepare for the funeral of the powerful Kandahar police chief, who was murdered when one of his elite guards pointed his gun at the official and killed him at a high-level meeting at which also assisted the commander-in-chief of the United States in Afghanistan.
Abdul Raziq's burial ceremony is scheduled to take place Friday in Kandahar's most sacred shrine, the Kherqa Mubarak Shrine, which would contain a cloak worn by the Prophet Muhammad, which bears witness to the stature of the chief of police.
Kandahar intelligence chief Abdul Mohmin was also killed, but the state's governor, Zalmay Wesa, who was wounded during the assault, remains mysterious. According to reports, Wesa was reportedly transferred to a NATO hospital outside Kandahar.
A Kandahar hospital official said two Afghan policemen were also killed and three others wounded during the attack. The manager requested anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to reporters.
-Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan;
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10:10
Afghanistan is boiling after the assassination of two top officials in Kandahar province, including its powerful police chief. The senior US commander who attended the high level meeting where the attack occurred was unscathed.
Thursday's meeting on security plans for the parliamentary elections in Afghanistan this weekend had just ended when an Afghan elite guard returned his gun against his colleagues.
Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq and the province's intelligence chief Abdul Mohmin were killed. Three Americans – an American soldier, a coalition subcontractor and an American civilian – were injured.
A Taliban spokesman said that General Scott Miller, commander-in-chief of the United States in the country, was the target.
The attack, more than 17 years after the Taliban were ousted from power, underscores the insecurity that prevails in Afghanistan before the elections.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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