KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The deputy director of Afghanistan's intelligence service and 22 others died Wednesday in a suicide attack at a mosque in Laghman province, officials said.
The bombing killed Abdullah Laghmani of the National Directorate of Security, an Afghan agency that operates similarly to a combined CIA and FBI, CNN reported.
The attack targeted Laghmani and other officials who were visiting the main mosque in Mehterlam, where he had gone to meet with local residents, The New York Times reported.
The assassination was carried out by a suicide bomber approaching the religious facility on foot, said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Mujahid said militants had long wanted to kill Abdullah, who Mujahid claimed committed crimes by detaining and jailing many people.
"The main target was Dr. Abdullah," Mr. Mujahid said in a telephone interview with the Times. "We were looking for him for a long time but today we succeeded."
Thirty-five people were wounded in the blast, officials said.
