KABUL had no respect for mosques and religious festivals.
Jamal, a close confidante of Karzai, was assassinated by a bomb hidden in a microphone that exploded as he spoke at the mosque in Pul-i-Alam, the provincial capital, after offering Eid prayers.
About 15 people were injured in the attack but there were no other fatalities, according to Din Mohammad Darwish, spokesman for Jamal’s office.
Jamal, an ethnic Pashtun, had previously survived four suicide attacks and served as a Minister of Tribal and Frontier Affairs. He was the deputy campaign manager for Karzai in the 2009 presidential elections.
No group has so far said it was behind the attack, but Karzai in a statement condemned the attack and blamed the Taliban.
“These attacks, which the Taliban do in the name of Islam, cause death and injury to innocent Muslims, and cannot be the work of Muslims, but rather those who have been assigned to kill Muslims.”
Karzai said the Taliban were also involved in a similar attack last year in the Eidgah in Maimana City, the capital of northern Faryab province, and in the assassination of Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar.
He said such inhuman attacks on mosques and innocent people proved the enmity of the Taliban with Islam, Muslims and humanity.
Karzai phoned a brother of Arsala Jamal and expressed his deep condolences with the bereaved family, the statement said.
The president directed the authorities concerned to take all required measures for the burial ceremony of Jamal.
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