Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor
Noor Khan, Associated Press
December 4, 2008
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The governor of Afghanistan’s key southern Kandahar province said Thursday he was sacked by the central government and complained that powerful people in his region had been sabotaging his work.
Rahmatullah Raufi, a former army general, was appointed as governor of Kandahar province in August, replacing a powerful but controversial former governor, Assadullah Khalid. But after only three months, Raufi told The Associated Press that officials in the capital said he must go.
“Last night I received a call from Kabul saying that you are fired,” Maj.-Gen. Raufi said.
“Personally I do not want to work either, because some of the powerful people (in Kandahar) were creating problems in my job,” Maj.-Gen. Raufi said, without elaborating. He did not identify who in the government told him he was sacked.
Barna Karimi, an official with Afghanistan’s Independent Directorate for Local Governance in Kabul, confirmed Maj.-Gen. Raufi was fired, but did not provide other details.
The southern provinces are the centre of the Taliban-led insurgency and Kandahar province is the spiritual heartland of the Taliban. It is also the power base of President Hamid Karzai, whose brother is the head of the provincial council. The province is also Afghanistan’s second-leading producer of opium poppies, behind neighbouring Helmand province.
In eastern Khost province, a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew up explosives he was carrying at the intelligence service building in Khost town Thursday, killing two police and wounding nine other people, officials said.
A car parked next to the building also exploded shortly after the initial blast, said Khost’s deputy governor, Taher Khan Sabarai.
Two police were killed and nine other people were wounded, said Gul Mohammadin Mohammadi, a provincial health department official.
The bomber was wearing an Afghan police uniform, said Col. Greg Julian, the U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan.
In western Afghanistan gunmen killed two tribal elders Wednesday, said Rauf Ahmadi, a police spokesman.
The elders were shot in Herat city, a day after they met the Afghan president in Kabul as part of a delegation of elders from Herat province, Mr. Ahmadi said. Two other people in the car they were driving in when attacked were wounded, he said.
Mr. Ahmadi called the killings “a terrorist act” and said authorities were investigating whether Taliban militants were involved.
Mr. Karzai condemned the killings and urged authorities to arrest and punish the perpetrators, a statement from his office said.
Mr. Karzai is running for re-election next year, and the support of tribal elders is essential for his chances of winning at a time when his popularity has been sliding.
Separately, in the northern Jowzjan province Taliban militants ambushed a police convoy Wednesday, killing an officer and wounding two other policemen, said Khalil Aminzada, the provincial police chief.
Authorities arrested four suspected Taliban fighters who were involved in the attack, he said.
Taliban attacks are rare in Jowzjan and the Wednesday assault suggests militants are expanding the areas where they operate away from their centres in the south and the east of the country.
More than 6,000 people have died so far this year in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press tally of figures provided by Afghan and Western officials.
Source | See Also under Aghanistan:: Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to probe response to sex charges | US General David Petraeus to take CENTCOM helm for Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan | ‘Reconstruction’ efforts in Khandahar not apparent to Afghanis | Peace activists demand Canada leave Afghanistan | NATO to let troops fight Afghan drug lords | US faces downward spiral in Afghan war, says leaked intelligence report | Afghan mission cost: up to $18B | Delta Force Officer: We Weren’t Allowed to Kill Osama Bin Laden | Victory impossible in Afghanistan: senior British commander | Defiant military watchdog widens detainee hearings | ‘Some’ Troops to stay in Afghanistan past 2011: McKay | CSIS faces review in Khadr case | Blackwater-linked firm to train Canadian troops | Canadian troops continue gearing up, to receive US counter-insurgency training | Asia’s new ‘great game’ is all about pipelines | MacKay dismisses Taliban threat as ‘propaganda’ | Controversial Kandahar governor replaced | America to assume command in Afghanistan | Canadian military acquiring new helicopters, drones | Low Level Driver Convicted Of Terror Charges While Bin Laden’s Senior Body Guard Was Let Go | Afghani Narco-state Continues to Blossom under Puppet President | Protesters push for Omar Khadr’s release | Obama promises 10,000 more troops for Afghanistan | Afghanistan suggests Pakistan responsible for embassy bombing | Canadian, NATO forces stood down during Afghan jailbreak | Canadian military silent on Afghan civilian deaths: UN investigator | US Counterinsurgency Manual Leaked, Calls for False Flag Operations, Suspension of Human Rights | Report: U.S. Gave Green Light For Taliban Prison Attack | Don’t look, don’t tell, troops told in response to Afghani child abuse | Post-traumatic stress disorder’s hidden scars | Over 100 complaints about access to govt. info on Afghan mission: report | Canada sets up new military spy unit | Bid to Block Afghan Detainee Inquiry Slammed | Army begins using $150,000 artillery shells | FBI documents contradict 9/11 Commission report | Truth or Terrorism? The Real Story Behind Five Years of High Alerts | 9/11 widows call for new investigation after revelations of White House, commission ties | Director of 9/11 commission “secretly spoke with Rove, White House” | Eight U.S. State Department Veterans Challenge the Official Account of 9/11 | Twenty-five U.S. Military Officers Challenge Official Account of 9/11 | Ex-Italian President: Intel Agencies Know 9/11 An Inside Job | Afghan poll not as clear as it seems | 9/11 – the big cover-up? | New Bin Laden Video: 100% Forgery | What Ottawa doesn’t want you to know: Government was told detainees faced ‘extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial’ | The Lies that Led to War | U.S. Government Caught Red-Handed Releasing Staged Al-Qaeda Videos | US Allowed Taliban, Al-Qaeda Airlift Evacuation
December 5th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
[...] New World Order: Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
December 5th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
[...] | See Also under Aghanistan: Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to [...]
December 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
December 18th, 2008 at 5:38 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
January 30th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
February 12th, 2009 at 5:30 am
[...] agree on $3.3B auto bailout package | Three Toronto cops to stand trial on corruption charges | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | UK Speaker: No warrant issued in search of opposition Immigration Minister | Zimbabwe tackles [...]
February 12th, 2009 at 11:48 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
February 19th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
[...] 3 new deaths in Afghanistan push Canadian toll to 101 | CFR-Brookings to Dominate Obama Strategy | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to [...]
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:17 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
February 24th, 2009 at 11:16 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 2:05 am
[...] agree on $3.3B auto bailout package | Three Toronto cops to stand trial on corruption charges | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | UK Speaker: No warrant issued in search of opposition Immigration Minister | Zimbabwe tackles [...]
March 27th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:09 am
[...] 3 new deaths in Afghanistan push Canadian toll to 101 | CFR-Brookings to Dominate Obama Strategy | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to [...]
April 7th, 2009 at 11:17 am
[...] 3 new deaths in Afghanistan push Canadian toll to 101 | CFR-Brookings to Dominate Obama Strategy | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to [...]
April 13th, 2009 at 6:18 am
[...] agree on $3.3B auto bailout package | Three Toronto cops to stand trial on corruption charges | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | UK Speaker: No warrant issued in search of opposition Immigration Minister | Zimbabwe tackles [...]
April 14th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
[...] 3 new deaths in Afghanistan push Canadian toll to 101 | CFR-Brookings to Dominate Obama Strategy | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to [...]
April 20th, 2009 at 3:23 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
April 20th, 2009 at 4:44 am
[...] 3 new deaths in Afghanistan push Canadian toll to 101 | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to [...]
April 21st, 2009 at 10:40 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]
May 11th, 2009 at 4:49 am
[...] 3 new deaths in Afghanistan push Canadian toll to 101 | CFR-Brookings to Dominate Obama Strategy | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Military to [...]
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:44 am
[...] Afghan drug trade: top soldier | Reports reveal concerns over drug use among Canadian military | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | NATO to let troops fight Afghan drug lords | Karzai’s kin linked to heroin trafficking | [...]
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:16 am
[...] [...]
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:10 am
[...] Obama Strategy | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Harper halts parliament amid row | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | Obama’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan could lead to more violence: ISAF | Author wins [...]