Members of the Wolesi Jirga (the Lower House of Parliament) on Saturday discussed Afghanistan’s security situation with a focus on the killing of Afghan military commanders and political activists, especially Gen. Abdul Raziq, the fallen police chief of Kandahar province.

A number of MPs said some circles in Pakistan are behind Raziq’s assassination adding that Kabul should suspend and review its diplomatic ties with Islamabad. 

Iqbal Safi, head of parliament’s internal security commission, said Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was involved in Raziq’s killing adding that Kabul has remained silent against the killing of military commanders and politicians in the country.

“Hints of all these ominous and criminal plans relates to Pakistan military government and ISI. Thus, until the secret hands behind these crimes are not disclosed and the organizers of these killings are not handed over to an international court, Afghan government is obliged to suspend its diplomatic ties with Pakistan,” said Safi. 

“It would have been better to suggest to Afghan government to accept the suggestion of suspending its diplomatic ties with Pakistan as soon as possible,” MP Saleh Mohammad Saljoqi said.

Parliament speaker, Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, meanwhile said Afghan security department chiefs will appear before the MPs on Monday and will brief them about the Kandahar incident that took the lives of Raziq and Gen. Abdul Momin Hassankhail, head of the provincial National Directorate of Security. 

Ibrahimi said parliament, after being briefed by security chiefs on Monday, will make a final decision on putting forward a suggestion to government about suspending diplomatic relationships with Pakistan. 

“We have invited security officials to update us about the security of Afghanistan and killings of Afghan Generals, especially about the killings of Gen. Raziq and Abdul Jabar Qahraman (an election candidate), during this week,” said Ibrahimi. 

Reports say the attacker who opened fire on Kandahar local officials and military commanders after a meeting on October 18 was a Taliban fighter who was recently appointed as a bodyguard for Kandahar governor Zalmai Wesa.

President Ashraf Ghani visited Kandahar following the assassination of Raziq and asked Islamabad to hand over the perpetrators of the attack to Kabul government. 

Ghani said that the assassination of Raziq was planned in Pakistan and asked Islamabad to hand over those responsible in order for Afghanistan to insure justice prevails. 

“I want to say that this conspiracy was plotted in Pakistan. So Pakistan should give us the criminals so that we can bring them to justice,” said Ghani at the time. 

Islamabad however has rejected any involvement in the Kandahar attack. 

Raziq was killed when the attacker opened fire on him and other officials, including the provincial governor Zalmai Wesa, Gen. Abdul Momin Hassainkhail, the provincial NDS chief and Resolute Support commander Gen. Austin Scott Miller.  

Hassainkhail was also killed in the shooting and the governor was wounded. Miller escaped unharmed.