KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Latest on the situation in Afghanistan ahead of the country's parliamentary election on Saturday (all times local):
11:30 a.m.
Afghans are preparing for the funeral for Kandahar's powerful police chief, assassinated when one of his elite guards turned his gun on the official and killed him during a high-level meeting the previous day that was also attended by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
Abdul Raziq's burial ceremony is to take place Friday in Kandahar's holiest shrine, the Kherqa Mubarak shrine, said to contain a cloak worn by the Prophet Mohammad, an indication of the police chief's stature.
Also killed in Thursday's attack was the Kandahar intelligence chief, Abdul Mohmin, but the condition of the province's governor, Zalmay Wesa, who was wounded in the assault, is shrouded in mystery. Some reports say Wesa has been transferred to a NATO hospital outside Kandahar.
A Kandahar hospital official says two Afghan policemen were also killed and three were wounded in the attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.
—Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan;
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10:10 a.m.
Afghanistan is reeling after the Taliban assassinated two senior officials in Kandahar province, including its powerful police chief. The top U.S. commander who attended the high-level meeting where the attack happened was unharmed.
Thursday's meeting, on security plans for Afghanistan's parliamentary elections this weekend, had just concluded when an elite Afghan guard turned his gun on his colleagues.
The Kandahar police chief, Abdul Raziq, and the province's intelligence chief, Abdul Mohmin, were killed. Three Americans — a U.S. service member, a coalition contractor and an American civilian — were wounded.
A Taliban spokesman said the top U.S. commander in the country, Gen. Scott Miller, was the target.
The attack, more than 17 years after the Taliban were driven from power, underscores the harrowing insecurity in Afghanistan ahead of the elections.
Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.
