Police in the Afghan capital say a son of Mohammad Mohaqeq, the ethnic Hazara leader and second deputy to Afghanistan’s chief executive, has died after a gunfight broke out at the family home in Kabul on February 9.
Mohaqeq is a former anti-Taliban mujahedin commander, a lawmaker in the Afghan parliament, and a key official under Afghan unity government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
“Unfortunately, a clash broke out between Mohammad Mohaqeq’s sons at their house,” Kabul police chief Sayed Mohammad Roshandil told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan. “His son Hussain fired on his little brother, Baqir Mohaqeq, killing Baqir and [contributing to violence in which] eight other members of the family — including Hussain Mohaqeq — were injured.”
The other eight people were reportedly being treated at a local hospital.
Police have launched an investigation, the official said.
Mohaqeq ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004 and once served on the Afghan peace council tasked with reconciliation efforts.
After a fallout with the government in Kabul over perceived leniency toward Taliban insurgents, Mohaqeq joined the ticket of Abdullah Abdullah in a fiercely disputed presidential election in 2014 that ushered in a power-sharing deal between Abdullah and the current president, Ashraf Ghani.
That U.S.-brokered agreement installed Abdullah as chief executive in what has been a strained five-year coexistence between Ghani and Abdullah under a “unity government.”
Mohaqeq has served as Abdullah’s deputy chief executive throughout the deal’s existence.
