President Karzai (photo courtesy of Creative Commons).

Afghan officials said Wednesday that they thwarted an assassination plot on President Hamid Karzai, The Associated Press reported. Officials said six people were arrested in Kabul, including one of Karzai’s bodyguards. Afghanistan’s intelligence agency claimed the suspects were affiliated with al-Qaida and the Haqqani militant group.

Karzai’s half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was killed in Kandahar in July. ABC News reported that two weeks later, the mayor of Kandahar was killed by a suicide bomber. The head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council was killed by a suicide bomber in September.

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Reach assistant news editor Agnus-Dei Farrant here.