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Karzai's Attackers Linked To Al-Qaida

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The New York Times

Published: May 1, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan - The attempt to kill President Hamid Karzai on Sunday was the work of militants who had infiltrated Afghanistan's security forces and had ties to groups linked to al-Qaida in Pakistan's tribal areas, the Afghan intelligence chief said Wednesday.

The claims emerged after a day of heightened alarm in which Afghan security forces killed and captured several suspects involved in the assassination attempt, raiding three safe houses in Kabul. An eight-hour siege with one cell left seven people dead, including a child and three security officials.

One of those killed was a militant named Homayoun, who assisted the attack on Karzai as well as the bombing in January of the five-star Serena Hotel in Kabul, killing seven people, said Amrullah Saleh, the intelligence chief.

Afghan intelligence officials say they have linked him through an intermediary to Jalaluddin Haqqani, a mujahedeen commander who is based in Pakistan's tribal areas and has long had ties to al-Qaida.

The statements by Afghan officials suggested that al-Qaida-linked militants based in Pakistan were working more closely with the Taliban to threaten the Karzai government, bringing a new level of sophistication to attacks being felt increasingly in and around the capital.

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