Kabul: Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani was killed Tuesday evening in a suicide blast at his house here, media reports said.

He was meeting with a group of Taliban insurgents when the explosion was triggered, Xinhua reported quoting an unnamed source from Rabbani's office.

"The suicide bomb went off at 18.10 outside the house. There are casualties, but details will be released later," said Hashmat Stanikzai, the provincial police spokesperson.

The Taliban insurgents had come to the capital to meet the officials of the Afghan High Peace Council that is headed by Rabbani.

It was not immediately clear if the visitors were involved in the attack, which also left five others dead and several injured, the local Tolo TV channel said.

A witness told Xinhua that it was a suicide bombing.

Security was beefed up after the attack.

Rabbani was selected by President Hamid Karzai in October 2010 as chairman of the 70-member High Peace Council to broker peace with the Taliban.

Many members of the council are former warlords who spent years fighting the Taliban and their inclusion led to doubts as to whether it could succeed in its mission, the BBC said.

The Taliban rejected the council and called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.


 
 

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