Assassination unsettles Afghans

last updated 8 January 2015

Kabul

Thousands of Afghans turned out this week to mourn Vice President Abdul Qadir, who was gunned down in his car in broad daylight. Next to President Hamid Karzai, Qadir was the most prominent ethnic Pashtun in the Tajik-dominated government, and one of the only Pashtun warlords in the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. A rich warlord and influential businessman, he had many enemies. Some locals speculated that he was killed by drug lords, others said it was the Taliban. Aid agencies said the assassination demonstrated that Afghanistan is still at the mercy of rival warlords and smugglers, and needs a strong international presence.