NATO condemned the killing in Afghanistan on Tuesday of a half-brother of President Hamid Karzai, and pledged to help identify the perpetrators, dpa reported
"President Karzai is working to create a stronger, more secure Afghanistan," said General David Petraeus, who commands the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. "For such a tragic event to happen ... within his own family is unfathomable."
"ISAF will support the Afghan government in every possible way to bring to justice those involved in the murder of Ahmad Wali Karzai," he said.
Ahmad Wali Karzai - often described as the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan - was shot dead by one of his bodyguards in his Kandahar home, officials said. But they also hinted at "a big hand" being behind the killing, although the motive was still unclear.
"This underlines why it is so important for ISAF to see the mission through," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in Brussels. "So that Afghan families can live without fear of such pointless and brutal violence in the future."