THE younger half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, one of the most powerful and controversial men in southern Afghanistan, was shot dead at his home yesterday by a senior and highly trusted bodyguard, officials said.

Firing General Stanley McChrystal would disrupt progress in the Afghan war and could jeopardise a pivotal security operation under way in Taliban strongholds, leaders in the country said today.

A leading Afghan police chief in the southern province of Kandahar was among 10 officers killed during a gun battle today.

FOUR Taliban suicide bombers disguised in army uniforms detonated a car bomb and stormed a government office in Kandahar, Afghanistan, yesterday, killing 13 people.