Six Afghans arrested for Karzai assassination bid

Investigators in Afghanistan questioned at least seven suspects on Friday as they hunted for the masterminds behind an assassination attempt...

Investigators in Afghanistan questioned at least seven suspects on Friday as they hunted for the masterminds behind an assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai and a car bomb that killed at least 16 people.

Afghan leaders blamed Thursday’s attacks on Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda movement and its Taliban allies.

An official in Kandahar said six men had been arrested in connection with the bid to kill Karzai there the previous day. The six were armed when they were picked up outside the residence of Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai after two gunmen opened fire on Karzai’s vehicle, he said.

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Earlier accounts of the incident spoke of a lone gunman. ‘‘They are all Afghans from Kandahar. We are investigating them. They are suspects to us and we will see what comes from them during the investigation,’’ a secretary for Karzai’s brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, said phone.

In Kabul, Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak said his officials had arrested the driver of a taxi that exploded in the heart of the capital shortly before the attack on Karzai. ‘‘The suspect is an Afghan and a taxi driver. The investigation is going on,’’ Wardak said.