Serpo
9th June 2013, 04:49 PM
A Taliban suicide bomber tried to assassinate Afghan politician Asadullah Khalid by hiding an explosive inside his body, it has been revealed.
According to the New York Times, security officials were stumped as to how the attacker managed to blow himself up after he was put through rigorous security checks including a strip search.
The body-cavity suicide bomb injured Mr Khalid, who is being treated for serious wounds to his hands, arms and abdomen six months on from the blast.
The bomber, who posed as a peace messenger, crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan to deliver information to Mr Khalid in person last December.
He was screened in the armoured room of a guesthouse in Kabul by security guards - a measure that is used to reduce the risk of attack.
Mr Khalid's aides questioned the agent and forced him to strip naked to make sure he was not concealing a weapon before he was taken to see the Intelligence Chief, said the New York Times.
Officials had previously said the bomb was hidden in the attacker's underwear, but a spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, Shafiqullah Tahiri, has confirmed a body-cavity bomb was used in the blast.
Rectal bombs are said to be limited in their impact because the force of their blast is cushioned by the bomber's body.
The attempted assassination last December came just three months after Mr Khlaid was appointed as Head of National Directorate of Security.
The politician is a close ally of President Karzai and is known as being fiercely anti-Taliban.
Mr Khalid has survived attempts on his life in the past. He was attacked by a suicide car bomber in 2007, who drove into his car.
Researcher Robert Bunker told the New York Times that body-cavity bombs are limited in their impact on targets.
He said: 'There are some really practical limitations to what you can do with the basic physics.
'You can only get so much in the body, and there is no shrapnel effect. It’s good news that these things have very limited lethality,' he said.
A rectal bomb was most famously used in August 2009, when Abdullah Asiri tried to blow up the Saudi prince Muhammad bin Nayef.
The suicide bomber, who was linked to Al Qaida exploded the bomb, injuring the Prince and killing himself.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2338470/Taliban-suicide-bomber-tried-assassinate-Afghan-Intelligence-Chief-got-past-security-agents-hiding-bomb-inside-body.html#ixzz2VlJOFVXx
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
According to the New York Times, security officials were stumped as to how the attacker managed to blow himself up after he was put through rigorous security checks including a strip search.
The body-cavity suicide bomb injured Mr Khalid, who is being treated for serious wounds to his hands, arms and abdomen six months on from the blast.
The bomber, who posed as a peace messenger, crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan to deliver information to Mr Khalid in person last December.
He was screened in the armoured room of a guesthouse in Kabul by security guards - a measure that is used to reduce the risk of attack.
Mr Khalid's aides questioned the agent and forced him to strip naked to make sure he was not concealing a weapon before he was taken to see the Intelligence Chief, said the New York Times.
Officials had previously said the bomb was hidden in the attacker's underwear, but a spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, Shafiqullah Tahiri, has confirmed a body-cavity bomb was used in the blast.
Rectal bombs are said to be limited in their impact because the force of their blast is cushioned by the bomber's body.
The attempted assassination last December came just three months after Mr Khlaid was appointed as Head of National Directorate of Security.
The politician is a close ally of President Karzai and is known as being fiercely anti-Taliban.
Mr Khalid has survived attempts on his life in the past. He was attacked by a suicide car bomber in 2007, who drove into his car.
Researcher Robert Bunker told the New York Times that body-cavity bombs are limited in their impact on targets.
He said: 'There are some really practical limitations to what you can do with the basic physics.
'You can only get so much in the body, and there is no shrapnel effect. It’s good news that these things have very limited lethality,' he said.
A rectal bomb was most famously used in August 2009, when Abdullah Asiri tried to blow up the Saudi prince Muhammad bin Nayef.
The suicide bomber, who was linked to Al Qaida exploded the bomb, injuring the Prince and killing himself.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2338470/Taliban-suicide-bomber-tried-assassinate-Afghan-Intelligence-Chief-got-past-security-agents-hiding-bomb-inside-body.html#ixzz2VlJOFVXx
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook