Tragedy at wedding

An influential Afghan MP and 22 of his guests were killed at a family wedding yesterday after a suicide bomber infiltrated the party in the north of the war-torn country, the third assassination of a senior official in two days.
The bomber blew himself up as he hugged lawmaker Ahmad Khan Samangani, who was celebrating his daughter's marriage, police said. The blast also killed the provincial intelligence chief and a senior police commander.
Samangani was close to Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, and commanded thousands of men in the area.
The Uzbeks are part of an uneasy coalition of minority tribes that fight the Taliban in their area.
The attack, among the most lethal in recent months, raises the risk of greater insecurity in the relatively peaceful province, analysts said.
At least 23 people were killed and 60 others wounded, said a statement from President Hamid Karzai condemning the attack.
"The enemies of Afghanistan once again targeted mujahideen figures who strive for national unity," Karzai said.
The wounded were in critical condition and the death toll could rise, said regional police spokesman Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai.
Samangani had told guards at the party not to inconvenience guests with security searches, said provincial police chief Khalil Andarabi.
The Taliban, which has been behind a series of suicide attacks this year, denied responsibility. The group often distances itself from attacks with high civilian death tolls.
"We don't have a hand in this," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. "Ahmad Khan (Samangani) was a former commander of the mujahideen, he was notorious and many people could have had problems with him."
Samangani, an ethnic Uzbek, fought against the Soviets in the 1980s, and against the Taliban during their 1996-2001 rule. He may have had enemies other than the Taliban, said Kabul-based political analyst Waheed Mujhda.
Afghanistan is experiencing some of the worst violence since the Taliban government was toppled by US-led Afghan forces more than a decade ago.
In a separate incident yesterday, a police official was gunned down in the southern city of Kandahar, the governor's spokesman said.
On Friday, a car bomb killed a leading female politician, Hanifa Safi. No one has claimed responsibility.