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| Afghanistan |
| Assassination attempt on Atta Mohammed thwarted |
| 2006-02-07 |
| Security forces have thwarted a suspected Al Qaeda assassination attempt on a prominent provincial governor in northern Afghanistan, police said. An alleged Al Qaeda member carrying a passport from the African country of Mali entered the home of Atta Mohammed, the governor of northern Balkh province, with explosives hidden under his clothes before being stopped by the official’s bodyguards, police spokesman Sher Jan Durani said late Monday. “He was going to blow himself up when he was with the governor,” he said. The governor, speaking to The Associated Press by phone, said the attacker had been living in Balkh’s capital Mazar-i-Sharif for two months and working for a local aid group that teaches computing. He said that according to documents found on him, the man’s name was Croma Yaya and he entered Afghanistan from Pakistan in December. “He was carrying a massive bomb. It would have killed many people,” he said. “I’ve no idea why they targeted me.” Mohammed was a senior leader in the Northern Alliance, which teamed up with US-led international forces to oust the Taleban in 2001 after the Sept. 11 Al Qaeda attacks in the United States. Mohammed’s mainly Tajik militia, however, has long feuded with that of Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, who was also part of the alliance. President Hamid Karzai appointed Mohammed as governor of Balkh in July 2004, but he’s not viewed as a potential successor to the presidency. Afghan authorities have warned they believe Al Qaeda is bringing many of its foreign militants into Afghanistan to bolster the insurgency here. Last week, an alleged Al Qaeda member from Iraq was caught sneaking into the country from neighboring Iran. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 OAMLFOR! |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-07 18:08 |
| #2 Dickin' spyslexic fries! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-07 16:48 |
| #1 My sources tell me it was actually the CIA getting around to liquidating Mohammed Atta, and they had the name reversed. |
| Posted by: Master of Obvious 2006-02-07 15:40 |