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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Blast Apparently Aimed at an Afghan Politician Kills 3 in Kabul | Blast Apparently Aimed at an Afghan Politician Kills 3 in Kabul |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion heard across Kabul on Tuesday morning appeared aimed at killing a prominent ethnic Hazara politician as he was traveling in his armored convoy. The politician survived, but at least three civilians were killed, according to the Kabul police. | |
| The attack happened as the American-led NATO coalition prepared to officially shift responsibility for all security in Afghanistan to government forces in a ceremony on the outskirts of Kabul, the nation’s capital, on Tuesday. | |
| The politician who was the apparent target of the attack, Hajji Mohammed Mohaqeq, is a leader of one of the two main Hazara political factions. The Hazaras are an ethnic minority who follow the Shiite branch of Islam. | The politician who was the apparent target of the attack, Hajji Mohammed Mohaqeq, is a leader of one of the two main Hazara political factions. The Hazaras are an ethnic minority who follow the Shiite branch of Islam. |
| Mr. Mohaqeq’s three-vehicle convoy had just driven past the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission office on the west side of the capital when it was hit by the explosion. | |
| “I was riding in my vehicle together with my escort, my security guards, when a huge explosion took place,” Mr. Mohaqeq said. “All the windshields, doors and the vehicle was completely destroyed. I saw black smoke and flames and nothing could be seen. Thank God — I don’t know how I survived.” | “I was riding in my vehicle together with my escort, my security guards, when a huge explosion took place,” Mr. Mohaqeq said. “All the windshields, doors and the vehicle was completely destroyed. I saw black smoke and flames and nothing could be seen. Thank God — I don’t know how I survived.” |
| Four of his security guards were wounded, he said. | Four of his security guards were wounded, he said. |
| The head of Kabul’s criminal investigations division, Gen. Mohammed Zahir, said the police believed that the cause of the explosion was a roadside bomb planted to kill Mr. Mohaqeq. | |
| He said the blast wounded 30 people, including Mr. Mohaqeq’s guards. | |
| While such roadside bombs are commonly used by insurgents in Afghanistan, there have been relatively few such bombings inside Kabul, a heavily populated city, because it is hard to bury or hide them without passers-by noticing. Most Kabul attacks have involved suicide bombers and gunmen. | While such roadside bombs are commonly used by insurgents in Afghanistan, there have been relatively few such bombings inside Kabul, a heavily populated city, because it is hard to bury or hide them without passers-by noticing. Most Kabul attacks have involved suicide bombers and gunmen. |