The man who killed Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, police commander Mohammad Sardar, was a U.S. ally in the war against the Taliban, reports the Washington Post electronic edition on Friday.
Sardar Mohammad met several times with British and American military officials, has exchanged information with the Americans and played a role in the arrest of many Taliban fighters, according to relatives contacted Thursday at his home near Kandahar.
Although the reasons behind this attack are not clear yet, one of Karzai’s brothers and an official Afghan say that they are convinced that somehow the Taliban won the confidence of Mohammad in recent months and convinced him to commit murder on behalf of the group.
Official claims that the investigation seeks to determine whether Mohammad was a latent agent that has recently joined the Taliban or insurgents.
Mahmood Karzai, one of the president’s brothers, said that the family learned after the assassination that Mohammad went to the Pakistani city of Quetta in the last three months to meet with Taliban insurgents. He behaved erratically in recent weeks, sleeping poorly, changing homes at night, acting suspiciously and asking his subordinates if they talk on the phone.
But Mohammad’s relatives deny that he had worked on behalf of the Taliban. One of his brothers-in-law, Abdul Malik, said that Mohammad has not been in Pakistan for 20 years.
Mohammad also met with British and American military officials and commanders were presented when the new rotation of troops in Kandahar took place, say relatives.