Afghan president's cousin killed by suicide bomber

Afghanistan's outgoing president, Hamid Karzai, lost a cousin, Hashmat Khalil Karzai, to a suicide bombing on Tuesday.

The late Karzai was a "staunch supporter of the president," the Associated Press reports, and he was involved in the country's campaign to select Hamid Karzai's successor. The AP notes that Hashmat Karzai was a campaign manager for Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who is competing against Abdullah Abdullah for the Afghan presidency. Afghanistan is currently holding an audit of the 8 million votes that were recently cast in the second round of its presidential election.

Hashmat Karzai was killed by a suicide bomber who hid explosives in his hat, according to a local official. The bomber blew himself and Karzai up when kissing his hand during the Muslim morning prayers for the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

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"Just like all other Afghans who are the daily targets of terrorist attacks, our family too is no exception and as every other Afghan, we too will have to bear it," President Karzai said in a statement.