Afghanistan: March 21, 2004

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The Aviation Minister of the government was killed by a warlord in the western city of Herat. This was followed by a gun battle between the Aviation Ministers men and those of a Herat warlord which left over a hundred dead and many more wounded. There's much more to this, however. The Aviation Minister, Mirwais Sadiq, is the son of Ismail Khan, the governor, and major warlord, in western Afghanistan. Mirwais Sadiq had been sent to fire one of Ismail Khan's subordinate warlords, Zaher Naib Zada. However, Zada took the news poorly and killed Mirwais Sadiq. Ismail Khan now has to go to war with Zaher Naib Zada, who refused an offer to go quietly. 

Mirwais Sadiq is the third government minister to be assassinated, and the second Aviation Minister to die. The first aviation minister to be killed, in a 2002 crime that no one has been held responsible for, was apparently murdered by a mob of air travelers unhappy at the slow pace of airport operations. 

 

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