Key Afghan Police Chief Dies in Kandahar Shooting; Top U.S. General Escapes Uninjured : NPR

Key Afghan Police Chief Dies in Kandahar Shooting; Top U.S. General Escapes Uninjured : NPR

Updated at 12:40 p.m. ET

Gen. Abdul Raziq, a police leader and key U.S. ally, was killed in an attack on senior officials meeting at the governor's palace in Kandahar on Thursday to discuss how to maintain security during Afghanistan's parliamentary elections this weekend. The commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller, escaped unharmed.

"General Miller is uninjured. We are being told the area is secure. Initial reports also say the attacker is dead," Col. Knut Peters, a Resolute Support mission spokesman, wrote in an email to NPR.

Three Americans — one serviceman, a civilian and a military contractor — were wounded in the crossfire after gunfire erupted at the palace, Peters said. Details about their condition wasn't immediately available.

"The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed powerful provincial police chief Abdul Raziq," Jennifer Glasse reports from Kabul for NPR's Newscast. "He was seen as crucial to the security of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban where the group continued to have a presence. Raziq was also criticized for alleged torture and running illegal prisons."