Afghan guards kill three officials, U.S. general escapes

Afghan guards shot and killed three government officials whom they were hired to protect and injured two U.S. soldiers on Thursday at a high-level security meeting in southern Afghanistan. The attack by members of the governor’s elite guards in Kandahar province demonstrates the deteriorating security conditions ahead of parliamentary elections this weekend.

A Taliban spokesman said top U.S. Gen. Scott Miller, commander of U.S. and NATO troops, was the main target, but he escaped unhurt. U.S. Col. Knut Peters, a spokesman for NATO troops in Afghanistan, said soldiers evacuated two Americans who sustained injuries in the attack. Agha Lala Dastageri, the deputy governor of Kandahar province, said the shooting inside the provincial governor’s residence killed Afghan police chief Abdul Razik, intelligence chief Abdul Mohmin, and Gov. Zalmay Wesa.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the shooting. The extremist group vowed to intensify attacks, which have already killed seven candidates ahead of Saturday’s elections. Two others have been abducted. A suicide bomber killed two civilians and injured five Czech soldiers Wednesday when he targeted a NATO convoy near the capital city of Kabul.