At least 6 die in suicide attack at Kandahar mosque

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In a brazen strike that punctuates the power and reach of Afghan militants, a suicide bomber slipped into a Kandahar mosque Thursday and killed at least six people, wounding 15 others, a hospital official said.

The attacker hid the explosive device under his turban and detonated it among a group of people who were reading the Quran at the Sera Jama Mosque, said police chief Sher Shah Yousafzai.

The attack occurred as several high-ranking Afghan officials had gathered to remember President Hamid Karzai's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Kandahar provincial council chief, who was slain Tuesday by a long-time guard during a gathering at his house.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Tuesday shooting, saying that the guard accused of killing him was working for them.

Accused of drug dealing and corruption accusations, Karzai was also considered a powerbroker by U.S. officials and others in southern Afghanistan.

He was buried Wednesday.

Thursday's attack also left two religious leaders dead and one child, according to Zelmai Ayoubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor's office.

In another incident, the French president's office reported the death of a marine commando on Thursday in Kapisa province in an insurgent attack. The death comes a day after five French soldiers were killed in a suicide strike.

President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday met with the country's top defense officials over the security situation for French troops in Afghanistan.

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