Ahmad Wali Karzai, half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was today assassinated in his house at Kandahar, probably by one of his bodyguards. 

Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, head of the counter-terrorism wing at the Interior Ministry, said that the killing was orchestrated by one of his body guards. “It is clear that Ahmad Wali Karzai has been killed by one of his bodyguards, and there is no involvement of any person from outside,” he said.

Ahmad Wali had escaped an assassination attempt by the Taliban fighters in recent years. He was a political broker who helped his brother immensely consolidate his position in the Southern Afghanistan. He was also reportedly linked to the drug trafficking trade.