Spy chief among 23 killed in Taliban suicide blast

A Taliban suicide bomber killed Afghanistan's deputy chief of intelligence during a visit to a mosque east of Kabul on Wednesday in an attack that left 22 others dead.

The bombing, which occurred in the Islamic 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.

The explosion ripped through a crowd in Laghman province just as Abdullah Laghmani, deputy chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security, and other officials were leaving the main mosque in Mehterlam, 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Kabul. Laghmani died at the scene, according to Sayed Ahmad Safi, the spokesman for the local governor.

A Taliban spokesman said a suicide bomber on foot targeted Laghmani, a key figure in Afghanistan's security services. President Hamid Karzai and the United Nations condemned the attack.

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.

In the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, meanwhile, an official with Abdullah's campaign warned supporters of the former foreign minister would take to the streets if there was any perception that election fraud was overlooked.