Former Afghan VP 'survives assassination'
Former vice president of Afghanistan Ahmad Zia Massoud (centre) targeted by suicide bombers in Kabul, aides say
Tuesday, 15, Dec 2009 10:49
By Matthew Champion.
The former vice president of Afghanistan was the target of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul that killed eight, aides have said.
Bodyguards of Ahmad Zia Massoud were among the dead following the car bomb in the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic district of the Afghan capital this morning.
The country's interior ministry said 40 people were injured in the blast, which took place near Mr Massoud's home.
Shah Asmat, an aide to the former VP, said: "Of course we were the target.
"Before, the Taliban killed [Ahmad Shah] Massoud. Now, they tried to kill his brother."
Mr Massoud was the first democratically-elected vice president of Afghanistan, although he is not part of Hamid Karzai's new administration.
This morning's explosion coincided with President Karzai hosting an anti-corruption conference elsewhere in Kabul, his first official act since his inauguration last month.
President Karzai is under intense pressure from western allies to combat widespread government corruption.