7 killed in suicide attack at Kabul rally

At least seven people were killed and 25 wounded on Sunday in the Afghan capital Kabul, when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated explosives near a rally marking the 17th death anniversary of a prominent anti-Taliban leader, official told the media.

The attack took place at 3 p.m. in Taimani square in northeast Kabul and targeted a procession of mourners honouring Ahmad Shah Massoud, a guerrilla commander who spent years fighting the Soviet Union and the Taliban but was assassinated two days before the September 11 attacks, Efe news agency reported.

Afghan interior ministry spokesperson Najib Danish said that the attacker set off the explosive device "near the convoy of supporters for the national hero Massoud."

On September 9, 2001, Massoud was killed by two suicide bombers of Arab origin posing as journalists, who detonated explosives hidden in a camera during a fake interview at the guerrilla leader's headquarters in the Panjshir Valley in north-central Afghanistan.

The assassination of the "Lion of Panjshir", as he was known to his supporters, was linked to the Al Qaeda, although there was no definitive proof of that link.

While still revered by some Afghanis for fighting the Soviets and later leading the Northern Alliance against the Taliban, Massoud is despised by others for his actions during the Afghan civil war and while in government during the 1990s.

--IANS

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