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Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid hurt by bomb Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid hurt by bomb
(about 1 hour later)
The head of Afghanistan's intelligence service has been wounded in a suspected suicide bombing in Kabul, interior ministry officials have told the BBC.The head of Afghanistan's intelligence service has been wounded in a suspected suicide bombing in Kabul, interior ministry officials have told the BBC.
They said that Asadullah Khalid was injured in the lower part of his body when the bomb exploded.They said that Asadullah Khalid was injured in the lower part of his body when the bomb exploded.
The explosion took place in the Taymeni area of central Kabul. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The explosion took place in the Taymeni area of central Kabul. The Taliban said it carried out the attack.
An intelligence official said that the attack took place in one of many guesthouses owned by Mr Khalid.An intelligence official said that the attack took place in one of many guesthouses owned by Mr Khalid.
He was known to move regularly from residence to residence in Kabul to escape assassination attempts. Another intelligence official told the BBC that Mr Khalid was "safe" but did not elaborate on his condition.
An Afghan intelligence official told the BBC that Mr Khalid is "safe" but did not elaborate on his condition. However, a Western diplomat told the AFP news agency that he had been seriously wounded. Afghan officials also told AFP that he was now in hospital receiving blood transfusions.
Mr Khalid has only been in the job as intelligence chief for a few months. The attack is similar to a suicide bombing in September 2011 that killed the chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani, officials say.
He survived a previous assassination attempt when he was governor of Kandahar province in 2007. Mr Rabbani was killed at his home by a suicide attacker carrying a bomb believed to have been concealed in his turban. He was meeting members of the Taliban at the time.
Torture allegations
Mr Khalid has been in the job as intelligence chief for only a few months. He has a reputation for being fiercely anti-Taliban and correspondents say that is why the insurgents wanted to kill him.
"Asadullah Khalid was the main target," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement. "A number of spies have been killed and wounded."
Mr Khalid has been known to move regularly from residence to residence in Kabul to escape assassination attempts.
He survived such an effort in October 2011 while serving as the minister of border and tribal affairs in the volatile southern province of Kandahar.
He also survived a roadside bombing when he was governor of Kandahar in 2008.
Mr Khalid was nominated by the president to head the National Directorate of Security (NDS) despite complaints from human rights groups including Amnesty International.
Amnesty has accused him of "involvement in numerous alleged acts of torture and other grave human rights violations" in the past decade while serving as governor of Ghazni province from 2001-05 and governor of Kandahar province from 2005-08.
"There are also credible allegations that Khalid was involved in the bombing of a vehicle that killed five UN workers in Kandahar in April 2007," Amnesty said in a statement released in September.
The intelligence chief has also been accused of running a torture prison while he was governor of Kandahar.
But Mr Khalid has steadfastly denied any human rights violations.