KABUL - Lawmakers on Saturday lashed out at the government for the apparent failure of peace negotiations and security in the wake of the assassination attempt against Afghanistan's spy chief by a suicide bomber.
In the Saturday parliamentary session, MPs reacted to the news that the suicide bomber had met with National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Asadullah Khalid on the pretext of being a peace envoy, and criticized the intelligence unit for failing to prevent the suicide attack.

"If the [NDS] organization cannot secure itself [from such attacks], how can people expect anything from these security organisations?" Kabul MP Nazifa Zaki said.

In light of the recent spate of Taliban prisoners being released from Pakistan and the fact that the Taliban had used a similar ploy to kill the head of the High Peace Council Burhanuddin Rabbani last year infuriated some of the lawmakers.

"The government should learn from its previous mistakes – how long will people be sacrificed in suicide attacks?" Ghor MP Ikramuddin said.

"On one hand the peace council goes to Pakistan and releases Taliban prisoners, and on the other hand Taliban always answers with attacks. What does it mean?" Kunduz MP Fatima Aziz said.

Some parliamentarians called for the government to end the activities of the High Peace Council saying its efforts were ineffective.

Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai dismissed the Taliban claim of responsibility for the Thursday afternoon attack against Khalid saying it was too "professional" for the militants.

He ordered a delegation to investigate and said that Pakistan would also be asked to cooperate because it was known "for a fact" that the bomber was from Pakistan and the bomb plot was believed to have been planned in Quetta.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Seddiqi confirmed that "the delegation assigned to investigate started its first meeting today and will soon clarify its findings."
Khalid is in a stable condition in a hospital at Bagram airfield, according to officials. (Tolo News)