Afghan Interior Minister Escapes Assassination Attempt

A suicide bomber launched Sunday a failed assassination attempt on Afghan Interior Minister Bismullah Khan in Parwan, north of Kabul, a spokesman for the ministry told Agence France Presse.

"I can confirm a failed assassination attempt on the minister, a suicide bomber was involved, no casualties," Siddiq Siddiqui said, giving no further details.

Governor of Parwan province Abdul Basir Salangi said the attack took place at 3:30pm (11:00 GMT) on the road between Sayed Khail and Gulbahar districts.

He said the minister was not there at the time, but did not give his whereabouts, telling AFP only that: "He was in Parwan. He is safe."

"The minister's convoy had parked for prayers, a suicide attacker hiding under a bridge approached the convoy. The bodyguards saw him and shot him. He had a suicide vest on, but the explosives didn't explode," Salangi added.

Khan is an ethnic Tajik former anti-Soviet commander who fought the Taliban alongside Afghanistan's northern hero Ahmad Shah Masood and was appointed to the interior ministry post in June last year.

The failed attempt on his life is the latest in a string of violent incidents to take place in the north of the country, which over the past decade has been relatively insulated from the Taliban-led insurgency.

The minister is a member of the Jamiat-e-Islami political party that was led by the former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, the chief broker for peace in the Afghan war until he was killed at his home in Kabul last month.