Jan Mohammad Khan - Assassination

Assassination

On July 17, 2011, gunmen stormed Khan's home in Kabul and killed him and MP Hasham Watanwal also of Oruzgan. Some sources report that his bodyguards were killed as well. The attack began with a small explosion and bursts of gunfire, according to eyewitnesses. While one attacker was killed, at least one other attacker blew himself up. Some reports indicated a third attacker occupied Khan's home and were involved in an hours-long firefight with the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. Afghan law enforcement had captured one attacker, who was carrying an AK-47 and a grenade launcher, while another attacker continued the firefight from a bathroom. SAS members of New Zealand were assisting and mentoring the Afghan security forces during the incident.

The Taliban took responsibility for Khan's killing. They stated that Khan's killing was a punishment for all his deeds in the past, but members of the Afghan National Assembly accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Afghanistan often blames Pakistan's ISI for supporting "terrorist" attacks inside Afghanistan. Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, the Interior Minister of Afghanistan, stated that the mobile phones recovered from the attackers showed incoming calls from Pakistan right before conducting the assassination. Others recall that Khan made many local enemies in southern Afghanistan over the years, within his own and competing tribes, and his death may have been the result of such a local feud.

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