23 die in Taliban suicide blast; spy chief killed

A Taliban suicide bomber detonated his explosives as Afghanistan's deputy chief of intelligence visited a mosque east of Kabul today, killing the Afghan official and 22 others.

The attack struck at the heart of Afghanistan's intelligence service and underscored the Taliban's increasing ability to carry off complex and targeted attacks.
    
The explosion ripped through a crowd in Laghman province just as officials were leaving the main mosque in Mehterlam, 100 kilometers east of Kabul. Two top provincial officials from Laghman were among the dead, and the blast destroyed several government vehicles.

A Taliban spokesman said a suicide bomber on foot targeted Abdullah Laghmani, the deputy chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security. The spokesman for Laghman's governor, Sayed Ahmad Safi, confirmed Laghmani was killed.

The National Directorate for Security, or NDS, is headed by an ethnic Tajik, and the killing of Laghmani, a Pashtun, could further exacerbate ethnic tensions as the country counts the results of the August 20 presidential election.

The blast killed Laghmani, the executive director of Laghman's governor's office, the head of Laghman's provincial council, two of Laghmani's body guards, and 18 civilians, said Sayed Ahmad Safi, the spokesman for Laghman's governor.