Blast kills top Afghan official 自杀式爆炸杀死阿富汗顶级官员

Afghanistan's deputy chief of intelligence has been killed in a suicide attack in Laghman province, east of Kabul, officials say.

阿富汗官员称，情报机关副首长在喀布尔东的拉格曼省的自杀式袭击中丧生。

Abdullah Laghmani and at least 21 other people were killed in the attack on a mosque¹（清真寺） in the town of Mehtar Lam.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, told AP news agency a suicide bomber² had targeted Mr Laghmani.

Separately, the UN has released a report saying opium³（鸦片） cultivation⁴（教化，培养） has dropped significantly in Afghanistan.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said poppy cultivation had dropped by 22% in a year and opium production by 10%.

Meanwhile, European and US envoys⁶ are meeting in Paris to discuss a new strategy in Afghanistan.

A unified⁷ response to allegations of fraud in the 20 August presidential election will be one of the main items on the agenda.

The latest counting figures released show that incumbent⁸ President（现任总统） Hamid Karzai has slightly extended his lead.

'Covered in blood'

Reports say a suicide bomber detonated（爆炸） his explosives in a crowd of officials - including Mr Laghmani - who had gathered outside the mosque in Mehtar Lam for a ceremony.

The provincial⁹ governor, Lutfullah Mashal, said in a news conference that at least 22 people had been killed, and another 35 hurt.

He said three senior officials in the local government had been killed, as well as Mr Laghmani - whose car was completely destroyed in the attack.

Most of the rest of the dead were believed to be civilians¹⁰, including three women.

A Taliban spokesman told the BBC it claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ambulances took the injured to Jalalabad, the nearest big city.

Speaking as the foreign envoys gathered for the Paris talks, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said of the attack: "This tragic¹¹ event reminds us of the challenges facing the authorities and the people of Afghanistan to ensure the stabilisation of the country."

Mr Kouchner also said Western troops would not leave until the region had been made secure, AFP reported.

This successful strike against a senior figure in the state apparatus¹²（装置，器具） is a serious blow against the government in its fight against the insurgency¹³（起义）, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Kabul.

Mr Laghmani was the second in command in the National Directorate of Security (NDS) - the national intelligence service - and was known as an active and energetic figure in the fight against criminal and insurgent¹⁴ networks, he adds.

The attack underlines the Taliban's ability to carry out complex and targeted attacks.

It is the latest in a string of deadly attacks mainly in the south and east of Afghanistan, occurring in the weeks before and since the country's presidential and provincial elections.

Election tensions

The UN greeted the findings of its latest report on poppy（罂粟，深红色） and opium（鸦片） production in Afghanistan as a "welcome piece of good news".

The biggest falls have been in Helmand province, but levels remain higher than three years ago, when British troops began fighting the Taliban there.

But world heroin¹⁵ prices remain low and sceptics suggest suppliers may be depleting¹⁶（耗尽） stockpiles（囤储物资） to boost prices.

Vote counting is still continuing after the 20 August election.

The latest count, with votes from 60.3% of polling stations tallied¹⁷（计算）, gives Mr Karzai a slightly larger lead over main rival Abdullah Abdullah, by 47.3% to 32.6%.

Mr Karzai needs 50% of the votes to avoid a run-off.

However, the vote remains¹⁸ mired¹⁹ in claims of fraud.

The New York Times carried claims on Tuesday that residents of the Shorabak district of Kandahar - members of the Bariz tribe - had been denied their votes wholesale²⁰（批发，大规模） after deciding to back Abdullah Abdullah.

Tribal²¹ leaders told the newspaper that on election day an ally of President Karzai had detained the district's governor and shut down all 45 polling sites.

They said police had stuffed the ballot²² boxes with fake ballots²³ before sending them to Kabul.

The president's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who heads the provincial council in Kandahar, told the BBC the accusations²⁴ were absolutely baseless.

Speaking in Paris, US envoy⁵ to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said a fair election outcome was vital but that voting disputes "happen in any democracy".