AFGHANISTAN: 23 DEAD IN BLAST

DEPUTY INTELLIGENCE CHIEF IS SLAIN
AMONG OTHER 23 PEOPLE IN AFGHANISTAN

Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people, including the country's deputy head of intelligence, in an attack near a mosque in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said. Lutfullah Mashal, governor of Laghman province who escaped injury in the attack, told Reuters the bomber burst from a shop and blew himself up while officials were getting into cars outside the mosque in the provincial capital Mehtar Lam. He said the 23 dead included two provincial officials as well as Abdullah Laghmani, deputy head of the powerful National Directorate for Security and one of the highest-ranking security officials in President Hamid Karzai's government to be killed. "It is obviously the work of the Taliban who are trying to destabilize Afghanistan by trampling Islamic values," Mashal said. He said 36 people were wounded. Eight ambulances left the scene headed toward Jalalabad, the nearest major city.

Violence in Afghanistan this year reached its highest level since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, escalating further in the runup to a presidential election last month, the result of which has yet to be announced. The election was a major test for Karzai after eight years in power and for U.S. President Barack Obama, who has sent thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan this year a new strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilize the country and neighboring Pakistan. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the Islamist group had sent a suicide bomber to carry out the Laghman attack. The presidential palace confirmed the death toll, including Laghmani.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

A ksatriya is allowed to kill only for maintenance of the law and order of the state; he is not allowed to kill or commit violence without reason. Violence is certainly a path leading to a hellish condition of life, but it is also required for maintenance of the law and order of the state. Here Lord Manu prohibited Dhruva Mahārāja from killing the Yaksas because only one of them was punishable for killing his brother, Uttama; not all of the Yaksa citizens were punishable. We find in modern warfare, however, that attacks are made upon innocent citizens who are without fault. According to the law of Manu, such warfare is a most sinful activity.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"El Srimad Bhagavatam - Comentario en Canto 4 - Cap. 1 - Verso 7"