Kabul, Sep 20: Afghanistan's former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, tasked with leading peace efforts in the war-torn country was assassinated Tuesday in a suicide attack at his Kabul home.
A close political aide of the former president, speaking on condition of anonymity, spoke after police confirmed a suicide explosion in Burhanuddin Rabbani's street.
"Yes, he is dead," he confirmed the news to AFP by telephone.
"Rabbani has been martyred," Muhammad Zahir, head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kabul Police, said.
Rabbani was the chief of President Hamid Karzai's High Council for Peace which is tasked with negotiating with the Taliban, so far unsuccessfully.
 The blast, which happened close to the US embassy, is the second attack within a week to strike within Kabul's supposedly secure diplomatic zone.
 An AFP reporter added that an ambulance had arrived at the scene and surrounding roads were blocked off by police. AFP

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