Karzai assassin 'addicted to hashish

STUNNED by the assassination of Afghanistan's most powerful men, friends of the President's slain brother are piecing together how a trusted aide became the killer.

Sardar Mohammad, who shot Ahmed Wali Karzai in his own home on Tuesday, was head of security for the southern Afghanistan powerbroker. The pair had been close for decades.

But neighbours and friends said Mohammad had drug problems, was prone to rages and hated the Taliban -- which claimed credit for the killing.

Mohammad gave the US intelligence on the militants, assisting in the capture of scores of Taliban fighters, The Washington Post reported yesterday.

He was the commander of about 200 bodyguards who looked after the upmarket neighbourhood of the younger Karzai's large extended family.

"He was also from the Popalzai tribe and was AWK's most trusted guy," said Agha Lalai Dastagiri, a member of the Kandahar provincial council that was led by Wali Karzai, who was known by his initials.




In exile, he said, Mohammad lived alongside the two Karzai brothers and their father in Pakistan, where the Karzais had formed an anti-Soviet resistance movement and later an anti-Taliban one in the 1990s.

"Sardar was addicted to hashish and developed psychological problems. AWK sent him twice to India for treatment this year," Mr Dastagiri said. "He was a very argumentative person, quick to fight, but Sardar was so close to AWK that he was always allowed to meet him while armed."

The Taliban claimed to have turned Mohammad, but those who knew him said he was a highly unlikely insurgent.

Mohammad's family declined to comment but neighbour Abdul Khaliq Mohmand said: "I don't think that he could be recruited by Taliban, as he was very hostile towards them. But he was smoking and drinking a lot and was always looking for a pretext to fight with somebody."

Mr Dastagiri said he was a guest in Karzai's house when Mohammad turned up. A bodyguard informed Wali Karzai that Mohammad wanted an urgent meeting and he left the room to see him in private.

"Moments later we heard three shots from the room. The first bodyguard that entered the room was also killed by Sardar," said Mr Dastagiri. "I asked the guards to capture Sardar alive but he was shooting, so the other bodyguards killed him. Ahmad Wali Karzai was shot three times, one bullet behind his ear, the second in his chest and a third bullet to his hand."

Recalling old Taliban tactics, the assassin's body was strung up in public, in two different squares for about half an hour on Tuesday.