Kabul: The three top officials in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province were killed when their own guards opened fire on them at a security conference, the deputy provincial governor said, however, a Taliban spokesman said the target was Washington’s top general in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, who escaped without injury, according to Nato.
Kandahar’s deputy provincial governor Agha Lala Dastageri said powerful provincial police chief Abdul Razik and the province’s intelligence chief Abdul Mohmin died immediately in the attack, while provincial governor Zalmay Wesa died later of his injuries at a hospital.
A Taliban spokesman who claimed responsibility for the attack told media that US Gen Scott Miller, commander of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, was the target. Nato officials say Miller escaped unharmed.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi took responsibility for the attack. He too said all three officials were killed.
The security meeting inside the sprawling provincial governor’s residence was being held ahead of Saturday’s parliamentary elections.
