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<<previous | index | next>> Appendix A: List of Attacks on Candidates1. Akhtar Mohammad Tolwak, a representative in the 2002 Emergency Loya Jirga and 2003 Constitutional Loya Jirga, was shot dead in Ghazni province on May 11 when his vehicle was ambushed.57 Local government officials claim that the Taliban was responsible for the attack.58 2. Mohammad Wali, a provincial council candidate in Uruzgon province, wasshot and killed on June 22. The governor of Uruzgon, Jan Mohammad Khan, claimed that the Taliban carried out the attack.59 3. Mohammed Karim Qurabaghi, a former mujahideen and Taliban commander, was shot dead in Kabul province on August 19, when his vehicle came under attack by unknown assailants.60 4. Haji Atiqullah, a candidate for the Wolesi Jirga, was shot dead on August 27, in Uruzgon province. Taliban spokesman Latif Hakimi said the Taliban was responsible for the attack.61 5. Khan Mohammad Yaqubi, a candidate for the Wolesi Jirga,was kidnapped on September 1, along with four others, when their vehicle was ambushed by suspected Taliban gunmen in the Ghorak district of Kandahar.62 The Taliban claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Taliban spokesman Latif Hakimi claimed that the five were killed by a firing squad on September 3. On September 9, police found all five bodies in Ghorak district after an intensive search operation.63 6. Habibullah Khan, a Wolesi Jirga candidate, was severely wounded on September 4, when his vehicle hit a landmine placed outside the gate to his home in Helmand province.64 He died in a hospital later the same day.65 According to local government officials, the mine was deliberately planted in front of his gate.66 In addition to the above cases, on July 25, a convoy of vehicles carrying a Wolesi Jirga candidate, Azatullah Khan, was hit by a bomb blast in Waza district, in Paktika province. Azatullah’s mother was injured, and his brother was killed. Azatullah himself was following in a second car, and was not injured. And on July 26, Mohammad Moktar, a provincial council candidate in Samangan province, was reportedly shot, but survived.67 [57] “Afghan candidate killed in Ghazni Province,” BBC News Online, May 12, 2005. [58] “Taliban kill Afghan election candidate,” Agence France-Presse, June 24, 2005; “Afghan candidate killed in Ghazni Province,” BBC News Online, May 12, 2005; “Afghan election candidate, driver killed in firefight,” Agence France-Presse, May 12, 2005. [59] “Afghan election candidate shot dead, Taliban blamed,” Reuters, June 23, 2005. [60] “Ex-Taliban commander and candidate in Afghan legislative elections is killed,” Associated Press, August 20, 2005; “Former Taliban commander killed in Afghan capital,” Xinhua News Agency, August 19, 2005. [61] “Another candidate gunned down in Uruzgon,” Paghwok Afghan News, August 28, 2005. [62] “District leader, election candidate and three others kidnapped in Afghanistan,” Associated Press, September 3, 2005. [63] “Bodies of five including kidnapped candidate found in Afghanistan,” Agence France-Presse, September 9, 2005. [64] “Afghan parliamentary election candidate attacked, 11 others killed,” Agence France-Presse, September 4, 2005. [65] Carlotta Gall, “Attackers kill 9, Including Candidate,” New York Times, September 4, 2005. [66] Ibid. [67] Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission/United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, “Joint Verification of Political Rights, Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council Elections, Second Report,” August 2005, para. 47-48.
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