Funeral of official after attack which killed deputy intelligence chief

Описание: (3 Sep 2009)
1. Various of street scenes near where explosion killed 23 people on Wednesday
2. Various of coffin of local official Mohammad Karim, who was killed in the explosion
3. Various of funeral prayer service
4. Set up shot of Laghman provincial governor, Lutfullah Mashal
5. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Lutfullah Mashal, Laghman province governor:
"Those who are committing these types of terrorist acts are our enemies; they are the enemies of Afghanistan, our people, our religion, and our Mujahideen (holy warriors)".
6. Ambulance driving off
7. Wide of street with heavy armed police vehicle driving in road
STORYLINE:
A funeral was held on Thursday for an Afghan official killed during a suicide bombing attack at a Mosque east of Kabul that killed 23 people and wounded more than 50.
Local official Mohammad Karim and Deputy chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security, Dr Abdullah Laghmani were among the dead, killed on Wednesday when the explosion ripped through a crowd in Laghman province just as officials were leaving the main mosque in Mehterlam, 60 miles (100 kilometres) east of Kabul.
The bombing, which occurred during the holy month of Ramadan, struck at the heart of Afghanistan's intelligence service and underscored the Taliban's increasing ability to carry off complex and targeted assaults.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Speaking at funeral prayer service for Karim on Thursday, Laghman provincial governor Lutfullah Mashal condemned the attacks .
"Those who are committing these types of terrorist acts are our enemies; they are the enemies of Afghanistan, our people, our religion, and our Mujaheedin," Karim said.
Taliban attacks have spiked the last three years and insurgents now control wide swaths of territory, momentum that forced US President Barack Obama to send 21-thousand additional troops to the country this year.
Laghmani was the former intelligence chief for Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold.
In his most recent post, he directed intelligence operations, especially in eastern Afghanistan, and appointed local intelligence officials throughout the area.
He was an ethnic Pashtun, along with nearly all the Taliban, but fought with a Tajik-led faction during the war against the Taliban that preceded the US-led invasion of 2001.
Laghmani, a close ally of incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was a major figure in Afghanistan's security and intelligence apparatus and his death was a setback to Afghan efforts to curb Taliban and other extremist activity.

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