Violence in Afghanistan’s south and west as president heads to Saudi Arabia for talks

Gunmen kill 2 civilians in southern Afghanistan

KABUL — Gunmen on a motorcycle killed two associates of the Afghan president’s brother Tuesday while the government accused Iranian border guards of killing five Afghans in the west.

The violence served as a reminder of Afghanistan’s daily turbulence as President Hamid Karzai left for Saudi Arabia to discuss a reintegration plan aimed at persuading Taliban militants to switch sides.

The hope is that talks with the Taliban will be a step toward a negotiated peace that will allow international troops to leave without the country slipping into civil war.

Taliban fighters have repeatedly attacked government buildings and officials in their campaign to undermine the Karzai administration, and Tuesday’s attack in Kandahar city appeared to be another strike against government allies.

Gunmen astride a motorcycle opened fire on two men in a drive-by shooting in the city, the capital of the province of the same name, provincial police chief Gen. Sardar Mohammad Zazi said.

The men are related to a prominent tribal leader and are known acquaintances of the president’s brother, who is also the provincial council chief.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the killings of five Afghan laborers who were allegedly shot to death by Iranian border guards while trying to enter the neighboring country without proper documents.

The Iranian guards opened fire at the men as they were crossing into Iran from the southwestern province of Nimroz early Friday, according to the provincial governor, Ghulam Dastagir Azad. Nimroz lies on a major trafficking route for Afghanistan’s huge opium trade.

He said two other Afghan laborers were wounded and have been returned to Afghan border police, along with the bodies of four of the men killed. He said he expected the other body to be returned soon.

The Foreign Ministry said it had requested an explanation from Iranian Embassy officials in Kabul. Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Karzai’s trip to Saudi Arabia will include a pilgrimage to Mecca and a meeting with King Abdullah. Saudi Arabia was one of the few countries that recognized the Taliban’s hard-line Islamist regime before it was ousted in 2001, and Saudi leaders have acted as intermediaries previously.

The two leaders will discuss Afghanistan, the region and possible “solutions for reconciliation,” according to a statement from his office.

The Afghan government has announced plans to offer jobs and other economic incentives to militants willing to “cut ties with al-Qaida and other terrorist groups and pursue their political goals peacefully.” The Taliban have dismissed the offer, saying fighters won’t be swayed until foreign troops leave the country.

Karzai has said Saudi Arabia and Pakistan — which worked together to facilitate the rise of the radical Islamist movement in the 1990s — would play a key role in the reintegration process. The kingdom pledged an additional $150 million in aid to Afghanistan at last week’s London conference.

Associated Press Writer Noor Khan contributed to this report from Kandahar.