Suicide Bomber Kills Afghan Intelligence Official, Dozens More

KABUL, Sept. 2 -- A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a mosque Wednesday in eastern Afghanistan, killing the country's second-highest ranking intelligence official along with at least 22 other people, Afghan officials said.

The bombing took place about 9:30 a.m. local time (1 a.m. Wednesday in Washington), just after Abdullah Laghmani, deputy chief of the country's National Directorate for Security, visited a mosque in Mehterlam in Laghman province, east of Kabul.

The bomber approached on foot as Laghmani was entering his vehicle, officials said. Laghmani was clearly the target of the attack, said Lutfullah Mashal, the provincial governor. About 35 people were injured.

"This is the first major suicide attack in the area," Mashal said. "This is the only incident we've had like this in the last year or so."

The explosion also killed three senior officials in the provincial government, including members of the governor's office and the chairman of the provincial council, and at least 19 civilians, Mashal said. The officials were visiting the mosque for an inauguration ceremony, he said.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack and confirmed that Laghmani was the target, according to the Associated Press. Laghmani was the former intelligence chief for Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold, the wire service reported. In his most recent post, he directed intelligence operations, especially in eastern Afghanistan, and appointed local defense officials throughout the area.

He was an ethnic Pashtun, as are most members of the Taliban, the AP said, but he fought with a Tajik-led faction during the war against the Taliban that preceded the U.S.-led invasion of 2001.

Mashal attributed the bombing to the "enemies of peace and stability." President Hamid Karzai and other officials also condemned the attack.

The Taliban has escalated its violent tactics in recent months, exploding several bombs in the run-up to the August presidential election, the results of which are not yet final. The tension over the outcome of the election continues to rise, as candidates have alleged widespread fraud that threatens the legitimacy of the results.

Senior U.S. officials say the resurgence of violence, coming as President Obama faces crucial decisions on his strategy for fighting militants in Afghanistan, has caught the administration and its allies by surprise.