Suicide Bomber Targets Afghan Commemorations Of Resistance Leader Masud

Afghan authorities say a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near a procession in Kabul commemorating the death of a revered resistance leader, injuring at least two people.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said the attacker targeted a procession honoring former anti-Soviet mujahedin commander Ahmad Shah Masud, who was assassinated ahead of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and other late defenders of Afghanistan.

Another Interior Ministry spokesman, Najib Danes, said in a statement earlier that two people were injured in the suicide attack.

But a spokesman



for the Health Ministry told RFE/RL that the attack left two people dead and two others injured.

Masud led resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and to Taliban rule from 1996-2001.

Afghan security forces had earlier shot and killed a man they said was planning to blow himself up near supporters of Masud.

The September 9 blast came four days after a suicide bomber at a Kabul wrestling club killed more than 20 people.

The violence comes ahead of parliamentary elections next month and amid an escalating tensions between ethnic groups in Afghanistan.