Taliban members kill former Afghan President Rabbani

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) — Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated on Tuesday during a suicide attack at his residence while meeting with members of the Taliban, officials said.

At around 7:15 a.m. local time, security forces had already cordoned off Rabbani’s residence, located in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood, which is in the posh locality of the Afghan capital of Kabul, where government offices and several foreign embassies are located.

Brigadier Genereal Abdul Zahir, the 101st Asmayee Zone Crime Investigation Unit’s chief, confirmed the news to Pajhwok Afghan News, adding that three other members of the High Peace Council, which is chaired by Professor Rabbani, were also killed during the attack. In addition, Council Secretariat chief, Masoom Stanikzai, was also reportedly wounded during the attack.

According to reports, Rabbani, who is also the leader of the Jamiat-i-Islami, was holding a meeting with several members of the High Peace Council along with two important members of the Taliban at the time of the attack. At the meeting, one of the insurgents who reportedly placed explosives in his turban, causing the deadly blast.

Media reports cited a Taliban spokesman as saying that Rabbani was attempting to hold peace negotiations with the Taliban. However, the spokesman said the Taliban used peace negotiations as an excuse to get close to the powerful politician and kill him.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) voiced shock and sadness after Rabbani’s death.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms this attack on people who were working to bring peace in Afghanistan,” Ban said, reiterating the UN’s commitment to supporting Afghanistan and its people in attaining peace and stability. Staffan de Mistura, the head of UNAMA and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, meanwhile, stressed that “the search for peace must continue,” adding that the mission will assist efforts to bring peace to the violence-wracked country.

Rabbani was Afghan president from 1992 to 1996, until the he was ousted by the Taliban, which took over Kabul. He was also in office briefly of around five weeks in late 2001. During his political career, he also lead the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, which was formed by various political groups who fought against Taliban rule in Afghanistan.