Top anti-Taliban cleric shot dead in Afghanistan

updated 6:09 p.m. ET May 29, 2005

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Gunmen killed a Muslim cleric in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, a week after he led a call for people not to support Taliban rebels.

Mullah Abdul Fayaz was shot to death on Sunday while driving in the center of Kandahar city, said deputy police chief Gen. Salim Khan. He blamed the Taliban for the murder and said 10 people have been arrested.

Fayaz led a meeting a week ago in Kandahar of about 500 clerics from across Afghanistan that condemned the Taliban and called on people to support the government.

At the time, he said Taliban insurgents were killing innocent civilians, while the government was trying to rebuild the country and bring peace.

Karzai condemned the killing, saying he was “deeply disturbed by this crime, which is an attack on Islam.”

Kabul blast
An explosion shook the headquarters of NATO’s 8,000-strong security force in the Afghan capital on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, a spokeswoman for the force said.

The blast occurred “in the vicinity” of the International Security Assistance Force compound, said Lt. Col. Karen Tissot Van Patot. She said officers were investigating the cause of the explosion.

An Afghan police officer outside the compound, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a rocket had hit inside the heavily fortified base, which is near the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic missions in central Kabul.

Sirens wailed across the city for about 30 minutes after the blast.

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