Afghan peace council chief killed

Tue Sep 20, 2011

Head of Afghanistan's Peace Council Burhanuddin Rabbani has been killed in an attack in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, Press TV reports.

Rabbani, who was former Afghan president and the chairman of the Independent High Council for Peace, died in an explosion that took place in his home on Tuesday.

The report came after a powerful blast was heard in Kabul close to the US embassy and the home of Rabbani.

Press TV's Kabul bureau chief said that two men who claimed that they wanted to negotiate with Rabbani had reportedly carried out the attack.

Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, he noted.

Five other people, all senior Afghan officials, were also killed in the incident. The head of the joint secretariat of the High Council for Peace Massum Stanikzai was also wounded in the attack.

As head of Afghanistan peace council, Rabbani was in charge of Afghan-Taliban talks aimed at reintegrating militants who are willing to lay down their arms.

The initiative to form a peace council was adopted at a traditional gathering, or Jirga, in June 2010 following the failure of the US-led forces in establishing peace in Afghanistan.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/200209.html.