NATO and Afghan security forces on Thursday evening killed a cousin of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, during a house search involving a neighboring building near Kandahar City.
After security forces requested that all occupants of the building adjacent to the president’s cousin, Yar Muhammad Khan, exit in a peaceful manner. Khan was spotted leaving his home, carrying a weapon, the BBC reported.
“The security force assessed the male as an immediate threat to the security force, and engaged him,” according to a NATO report.
A NATO statement indicated that the intended target of the raid was a Taliban leader responsible for distributing car bombs to fighters in the greater Kandahar area and for coordinating arms shipments to the Taliban, according to the NYT.
The BBC said that some sources called Khan a cousin of the current president and other sources referred to Khan as the cousin of Karzai’s father. However, President Karzai acknowledged through a spokesman, that Khan came from the same village as he did, and therefore he knew him.
The incident occurred right after the U.N. reported a record number 2,777 civilian deaths in the ongoing Afghanistan violence in 2010, including the deaths of nine boys.
Kandahar City is a key focus of the NATO coalition and spiritual base of the Taliban.
After security forces requested that all occupants of the building adjacent to the president’s cousin, Yar Muhammad Khan, exit in a peaceful manner. Khan was spotted leaving his home, carrying a weapon, the BBC reported.
“The security force assessed the male as an immediate threat to the security force, and engaged him,” according to a NATO report.
A NATO statement indicated that the intended target of the raid was a Taliban leader responsible for distributing car bombs to fighters in the greater Kandahar area and for coordinating arms shipments to the Taliban, according to the NYT.
The BBC said that some sources called Khan a cousin of the current president and other sources referred to Khan as the cousin of Karzai’s father. However, President Karzai acknowledged through a spokesman, that Khan came from the same village as he did, and therefore he knew him.
The incident occurred right after the U.N. reported a record number 2,777 civilian deaths in the ongoing Afghanistan violence in 2010, including the deaths of nine boys.
Kandahar City is a key focus of the NATO coalition and spiritual base of the Taliban.
