Seven corpses in the house of the Taliban leader
Late on Tuesday evening, an assassination attempt was made on the spiritual leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar. A bomb exploded near his residence in Kandahar. Seven people were killed, including three of Omar's bodyguards. The mullah himself was not injured. “This is a conspiracy by our enemies,” said a Taliban spokesman.

The explosion occurred after dark, when there were no longer people on the streets (there is a curfew in Kandahar, as in other Afghan cities). Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods ran out of their houses in panic - they decided that the city had been subjected to a missile attack, similar to the one the Americans carried out in August last year. Then the United States fired dozens of cruise missiles at facilities where, according to their assumptions, Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden, suspected of organizing terrorist attacks at the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, could be located.
However, it soon became clear that only one truck filled with explosives exploded, parked near the house of the spiritual leader of the Taliban. Mohammad Omar himself was not at home at that moment. The explosion broke glass in the surrounding houses and slightly damaged the wall of the house. Seven people were killed, including three of the mullah's bodyguards.
The assassination attempt on the spiritual leader of the Taliban is the first action of this kind in Kandahar, the de facto center of the Taliban movement, in the last three years. Kandahar is located 400 km from the active combat zone and was until now considered one of the most peaceful places in Afghanistan.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the explosion. It is known that the truck with explosives arrived from Herat, a city where strong Iranian influence remains. Taliban spokesman Abdul Mutmain said the attack was carried out by enemies of the Islamic Emirate, but did not place blame on anyone in particular.
Pakistan's Islamists spoke out more clearly. The Harakat ul-Mujahideen group clearly accused the United States of preparing the assassination attempt. “Actions like this,” said the group’s leader, “expose America as the most evil terrorist force in the world.” He did not provide any evidence, but again accused the United States of being ready to do anything to achieve the extradition of bin Laden.
The State Department responded quickly. According to his official representative, "claims that the explosions in Kandahar may be connected with US strikes on bin Laden's bases are without any basis."

LEONID Kommersant-Panin, Vasily Kommersant-Mikhailov

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 153 dated 08.26.1999, p. 4