Posted on 08/20/2005 12:25:12 AM PDT by HAL9000
KABUL, Aug 20 (Reuters) - A former Taliban commander now loyal to the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai has been gunned down in the capital, officials said on Saturday.Karim Qarabaghi and his nephew were killed in their car by a hail of bullets fired from a passing four wheel drive vehicle in a northern suburb of Kabul on Friday, they said.
Before joining the Taliban from 1996 to 2001, Qarabaghi served as a commander for ex-Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who like the Taliban remnants is leading an insurgency against the government and foreign forces.
After the Taliban's fall, Qarabaghi joined factions that helped U.S. forces topple the radical Islamist government and stayed in Kabul, but had no government position. "We know that he has been killed, but do not know whether it was because of personal hostility or because he once had joined the Taliban," said interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal.
Qarabaghi's killing comes during a slow-paced government amnesty for rank and file Taliban fighters.
Hopefully every taliban and al-queda thug murderer is sleeping a little less well tonight.
Keep an eye open you bastards cause you are next.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.