Karzai Survives Assassination Attempt
Bodyguard apparently shoots at Afghan president as he leaves meeting in former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar

September 5, 2002

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai survived an assassination attempt Thursday when a security guard fired at his car as it was leaving the governor's mansion here, witnesses said.

The governor, Gul Agha Sherzai, was injured and three people were killed in the melee when the president's American bodyguards opened fire.

There was no immediate word on whether Karzai was injured.

Three bullet-riddled bodies could be seen outside the mansion grounds in a pool of blood.

"I was just outside the gate when I heard the gunshots," Sherzai's security chief Dur Mohammed said. "The Americans opened fire on three people and they were killed."

The incident occurred shortly after a car bomb killed and wounded scores of people in the Afghan capital Kabul 300 miles to the northeast. It was unclear if the incidents were related.

Karzai was in Kandahar, the former spiritual headquarters of the Taliban, to attend a wedding celebration for his youngest brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai.

Witnesses said Karzai was leaving the governor's house in his motorcade when shots were fired in his direction. U.S. Special Forces guarding him screamed for him to take cover and the convoy sped away.

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