The head of the Afghan High Peace Council, former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, was killed on Tuesday in an attack at his home in Kabul, officials said.
Four other people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device repored to have been concealed in his turban.
Rabbani was meeting with members of the Taliban at the time of the attack in an attempt to broker a peace deal. He was ousted as president of Afghanistan by the radical Islamic movement in 1996,
"This is a sad day for us in Afghanistan but a day of unity," said Afghan President Hamid Karza, who cut short a visit to the U.S.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the murder “a tragic loss.”
International Security Assistance Force commander Gen John R Allen said “the face of the peace initiative has been attacked".
