In Anatomy of an Afghan Bombing, Clues of

a Tangled War
By MUJIB MASHALMARCH 31, 2017

Dr. Humayoon Azizi, the governor of Kandahar, at his home in Kabul after surviving a bombing
at his guesthouse in which 13 people were killed. Credit Jim Huylebroek for The New York
Times

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan For days in his hospital bed, Dr. Humayoon Azizi, the governor
of the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, hallucinated.

Colleagues who had been killed in the bombing that Dr. Azizi somehow survived would come to
him and say they knew they were dead, but they would return with new identities. Could the
governor help them?

I would dream of fire and meetings with the friends we lost, recalled Dr. Azizi, who is still
being treated for burns and fighting flashbacks but resumed work last week in Kandahar.

Even for Kandahars long history of complex political assassinations, the bombing attack on the
governors guesthouse in January was daring. It almost devastated the entire leadership of the
only province in the south that is putting up some resistance to a Taliban surge, killing a deputy
governor, a senator and a member of Parliament, as well as the United Arab Emirates
ambassador and five aides.

Once the hotbed of the Taliban insurgency, Kandahar has remained relatively stable as district
after district in surrounding provinces has fallen to the militants. But the two explosions, which
killed 13 people, and the investigation that followed, highlighted the increasing complexity of
the Afghan war, particularly in Kandahar, which is riven by political and tribal rivalries.

The explosives were placed under a couch just two seats to the right of the governor in a
reception hall tucked behind at least five layers of security. Most of the victims were incinerated
down to the bone; one official was identified just by the metal of his watch clinging to his wrist.

The chandelier dropped from the ceiling, and the room immediately caught fire it was dark,
and there was smoke, and fire, said Mohammed Yousuf Yousufi, a businessman who survived
with burns to his hands and back.

While there was no mistaking the deadly toll of the bombing, investigators struggled with the
complexities of who was responsible.

The site of the attack on the governors guesthouse. Credit Mujib Mashal/The New York Times

Afghan officials now say they have no doubt that the Taliban were behind the bombing.
However, the militants have denied involvement, highlighting their close relations with the
United Arab Emirates.

Given that six diplomats from the gulf nation were killed, some officials in the U.A.E. and in
Afghanistan initially suspected Iran, which has long been seen as an adversary of Arab nations
and is believed to have growing ties with the Taliban.

Adding to the mystery was the fact that the provinces powerful police chief, an ally of the
American military named Gen. Abdul Raziq, walked out of the room just minutes before the
explosion. He said he left for evening prayers; Afghan officials say he was bored and went out
for a cigarette. Many wondered whether his departure was a lucky coincidence or something
more sinister.
General Raziqs men are in charge of at least three belts of security around the governors house.
They are known to be so cautious that they have poked metal rods into the fruit heading to the
former governors table, which makes the security lapse in January all the more remarkable.

Other observers point to the souring of Dr. Azizis long friendship with General Raziq since he
took charge of the province two years ago, vowing to transform Kandahars political landscape,
and its patronage system, over which General Raziq had long had a monopoly.

The investigation shows that the Quetta Shura, the Talibans leadership council operating out of
Pakistan, planned the attack, according to two senior Afghan officials and a third person with
knowledge of the findings, who declined to speak on the record. Central to its execution was the
governors cook, a sleeper who had provided information to the Taliban in return for money
for more than a decade, according to the officials. The attack was in the works for several
months, and the target was Kandahars civilian and military leadership.

One crucial finding of the investigation, carried out with Emirati and American help, was that the
operatives on the ground knew that Arab guests were in the room, and they communicated that
fact back to Quetta on at least two occasions.

The conclusion, the officials said, has been hard for the U.A.E. government to digest.

We might have been the target, but Quetta was told the Emiratis were going to be present, said
General Raziq, the police chief. There is no doubt that Pakistan and the Taliban have good
relations with the Emiratis. But we have proof that it was done planned by Pakistan and
handled by the Taliban.

Dr. Azizi, center, with Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistans chief executive, and Gen. Abdul
Raziq, during the governors inauguration in 2015. Credit Jim Huylebroek for The New York
Times

Another possibility, according to those aware of the investigation as well as Western officials, is
that the presence of the Arabs was communicated back to Quetta but someone like a cook would
not have realized how important the visitors were. If the Taliban had come so close to achieving
a major victory they have unsuccessfully tried to kill General Raziq more than three dozen
times, according to him they may have accepted that some unknown Arabs would be
collateral damage.
We were the target, but the plan was to take out whoever was in the room whether its a
minister or an Arab, or anyone, said Dr. Azizi, the governor.

The Taliban, however, stand by their denial, saying that the attack was the result of an internal
political rivalry among Afghan officials.

We have no problem with the United Arab Emirates, their spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid,
said by telephone. And there is no reason that someone who is helping, particularly an Islamic
country, should come under attack.

Afghan officials say that among the leading planners of the attack in Quetta was Hafiz Majeed, a
close adviser to the Talibans supreme leader. In addition to their ideological differences, Mr.
Majeed has also been locked in a rivalry with General Raziq. When the Taliban were in power,
Mr. Majeed was behind digging up the remains of General Raziqs relative Esmat Muslim, a
ruthless militia commander, from near a holy shrine because he thought his presence was
polluting.

Investigators followed the trail to Sayed Mahboob Agha, the cook at the governors palace. Mr.
Agha was well trusted his father before him had cooked for dozens of governors in a career
that spanned four decades. And just as his father had brought him in as an assistant, Mr. Agha
had brought two of his sons with him, one of whom was on duty at the governors house around
the clock, every day.

Immediately after the attack, Afghan security agencies rounded up dozens of men, among them
Mr. Agha and his sons, who were then transferred to Kabul.

Mr. Aghas brother, Sayed Agha, said it was unfathomable that his brother would do such a
thing. Intelligence officers raided their home twice, breaking lockers and wardrobes in search of
evidence, and rounded up about 30 members of their extended family including four men who
worked at the presidential palace in Kabul for questioning. One of General Raziqs
commanders also suspended one of the cooks sons from a tree in the governors yard all night,
he said.

Sayed Agha, the brother of the cook suspected in the attack. He said he did not believe that his
brother was involved. Credit Mujib Mashal/The New York Times
If they can prove that someone in my extended family, let alone my brother, has ever done one
thing wrong against this government, they can execute us all, the younger Mr. Agha said. They
cant find anyone else they failed in providing security, of course they will say we got the
people.

One official said the cook maintained his innocence for much of the investigation in Kabul, but
just before his release he bragged about his involvement to an intelligence agent who was put in
the cell undercover as a Taliban assassin.

In subsequent interrogations, he confessed to receiving the explosives before the attack,

according to two officials, and said that he brought them into the compound in a fruit crate. He
told his handler upon receiving the explosives and an installment of money that he had learned
there would be Arabs among the guests, and that they were helping our jihad. But he was told
to go ahead with the plan anyway. Another official said Mr. Agha had been promised about
$30,000.

The government says it is detaining 11 people in relation to the case and have released the rest.
The official release of the investigations findings has been delayed because of a request by the
U.A.E., which is still grappling with what to do with the Taliban and Pakistan.

Before turning to politics, Dr. Azizi was a surgeon by profession who specialized in treating
burns. As he was driven to the hospital on the evening of the explosion, he knew there were no
burn specialists in Kandahar.

On the way to the hospital, I told those with me that when I arrive they need to create incisions
on my hands. Burns, particularly circular burns if you dont create incisions, the pressure goes
deeper, Dr. Azizi said. I was conscious until I reached the hospital. But after that I gained
consciousness six days later.

After two months of treatment, Dr. Azizi returned to a heros welcome in Kandahar and says he
is determined to continue his work.

He has avoided revisiting the hall, fearing the return of flashbacks that he overcame only after 25
days of psychiatric treatment. But he cannot avoid its burned windows, which look down on the
porch of his residence.

Neither bodyguards nor an armored room will save me, Dr. Azizi said. It was God that saved
me from the fire.

Taimoor Shah and Carlotta Gall contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on April 1, 2017, on Page A4 of the New York edition
with the headline: In the Anatomy of an Afghan Bombing, Clues of a Tangled War.