Wounded Afghan Intelligence Chief Sent To U.S. Hospital

Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid

KABUL -- The Afghan intelligence chief who was wounded in a December 6 suicide bombing has been transferred to a hospital in the United States.

Afghan presidential deputy spokesman Ahmad Zia Siamak told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that Asadullah Khalid was flown from a U.S.-run military hospital at Bagram Air Field on December 13 and arrived at a U.S. hospital the following day.

He did not identify the U.S. hospital.

Khalid was wounded by a suicide bomber inside a guesthouse run by the Afghan National Directorate of Security.

The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed optimism about Khalid’s recovery after visiting him last week at an Afghan hospital where he was first taken.

Khalid, a former governor and minister, was appointed as the Afghan intelligence chief in September.