On air at 1100GMT: Assassination in Afghanistan - what does it mean for the country?
| 13:58 UK time, Tuesday, 12 July 2011
This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 12 July, 2011. Listen to the programme
As I write the AFP news agency is reporting that the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the assassination of President Hamid Karzai's younger half brother, calling it "one of our biggest achievements" in nearly a decade of war. The group said they had recruited a gunman to kill , a hugely powerful and controversial figure in the south of Afghanistan.
There are that a body guard killed him, other says it was a guest to his home.
The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says,
"It is hard to overstate how important he was in the south of Afghanistan and in Nato's efforts to combat the Taliban in their stronghold there".
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What does it tell us about the state of Afghanistan?
It comes on the day President Sarkozy announced that , a total of around 1,000 soldiers, from the country by the end of next year.
At a time when the both the US and the UK are scaling down the numbers of troops in Afghanistan, the US by 33 thousand next year and the UK 500, is now the right time for the international community to be pulling out? Will the Afghan army be in a position to provide security?
And what has been achieved during the international mission in Afghanistan?
We'll be speaking to people inside the country, getting their reactions and about life and security.
