Kandahar’s outspoken mayor was assassinated inside a government building on Wednesday, when a suicide bomber detonated explosives hidden in his turban.
Ghulam Haider Hamidi is the second high profile official to be killed in Afghanistan this month.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the murder. Taliban spokesperson Qari Yousef Ahmadi said it was revenge for the deaths of two children, who were accidentally killed during demolition work that Hamidi had ordered.
Hamidi was born in 1947. He moved with his family to Pakistan, and then to the United States, where he lived in exile for 30 years. He was a U.S. citizen, and worked as an accountant in Arlington, Va.
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He returned to Kandahar in 2007 when he was appointed mayor of the volatile city by President Hamid Karzai.
The 65-year old served as mayor of Kandahar for four years. During his service he became an enemy of the Taliban.
Hamidi was a close ally of the Karzai family. Many viewed him as a possible successor to President Karzai’s half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was gunned down by a close associate on July 12.
Hamidi had made enemies amongst Afghanistan businessmen and powerbrokers as well.
He often spoke out about cleaning up the corruption in the municipal office. He fired many officials who were working under false credentials, as well as employees who were caught taking bribes.
The municipality’s decision to demolish homes built illegally on government land angered many. According to British newspaper The Guardian, at the time of his death, Hamidi’s office was surrounded by 100 protesters.
Hamidi had survived previous assassination attempts, including a failed bombing in March 2009 that prompted Canadian officials to purchase an armour-plated vehicle for the mayor.
With files from Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press
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