Afghan insurgents yesterday killed Jan Mohammed Khan, a senior aide to President Karzai and the former governor of southern Uruzgan province, and Mohammad Hashim Watanwal, a Member of the Afghan Parliament. This was the second round of killings of high level Afghan officials in two weeks. Last week, insurgents assassinated Ahmed Wali Karzai, the half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The Taliban took credit for both assassinations. Both Khan and Ahmed Karzai were key advisers to President Karzai on southern Afghanistan, the Taliban’s stronghold.

Analysis

These targeted killings of Afghan government officials by the Taliban probably are designed to create chaos to undermine the Karzai government and its ability to exercise authority in the south. The assassinations likely also reflect the Taliban’s intention to pursue its agenda through violence and not the bargaining table with the government. If this is the case, it will seriously undermine the Obama administration’s plans to justify withdrawing U.S. troops largely on the basis of a negotiated power sharing arrangement between the Karzai government and the Taliban.

Fred Fleitz is a former CIA analyst and Chief of Staff to Ambassador John Bolton.