Afghan deputy intel chief’s assassination plotted in Pakistan

According to Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, the assassination of NDS Deputy Director Dr. Abdullah Laghmani was hatched by Pakistani Taliban commanders based in Peshawar. Laghmani was one of 23 Afghans killed in a suicide attack in a mosque in the city of Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman province, on Sept. 2. From Quqnoos:

Abdul Rahman, a military commander of Taliban fighters in Laghman, and three of his associates were arrested for planning the attack, the intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Rahman confessed that he received an order for the bombing from Shahid Khel and Maulawi Kabir, two Taliban leaders living in Peshawar, Pakistan, the statement noted.

The attack was carried out by a Pakistani national by the name of Abdul Jabar, it said, citing Rahman’s confession.

The statement also said that by arresting the group, the agency foiled an attack on Laghman’s governor because the group planned to target the provincial headquarters with a truck loaded with 2,500 kilograms of explosives.

The would-be suicide bombing was also plotted by Taliban leaders in Peshawar and was planned to be carried out by two Pakistani bombers, the statement added.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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Tags: Afghanistan, Pakistan