Yesterday, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) transferred responsibility for the country’s security forces to the Afghan government after a bomb blast targeting a political official left three civilians dead in Kabul.
The blast, which occurred in front of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Watch, was targeting Afghanistan’s second vice-president Mohammed Mohaqiq, who is also a Muslim cleric and leader of the Hazara minority. Three civilians were killed and 30 others were injured. Mohaqiq was not injured in the blast, though six of his bodyguards sustained injuries and one car in his convoy was damaged. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Watch was not a related target.
Just miles away, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted control of the security operations for Afghanistan from NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen. While NATO forces will still be in the country, the Afghan police force of over 350,000 officers will be in charge of operations.
