KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban say they sent the suicide bomber who killed the mayor of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Mayor Ghulam Haider Hamidi had ordered the destruction of homes that city officials claimed had been illegally constructed.
Ahmadi says the Taliban killed the mayor to avenge the deaths of two children who they allege were killed during the demolition work.
Hamidi was the third major powerbroker from the south to be slain this month.
On July 12, President Karzai’s powerful half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was gunned down in his home in Kandahar by a close associate. Five days later, gunmen killed Jan Mohammad Khan, an adviser to the president on tribal issues.
