Bangladeshi dies in Kabul attack

A Bangladeshi is among the victims of Thursday’s Taliban attack on a restaurant of a Kabul luxury hotel usually considered safe and frequented by foreigners. The attack, two weeks before a presidential election, left nine dead – four of them foreigners. Three minor children were also killed. Reuters, quoting the US embassy, had reported that a man of dual US-Bangladesh nationality was killed. Bangladesh’s permanent envoy to the UN, AKA Momen, identified the victim as Wasim Zaman, who was heading a Malaysia-based NGO in Afghanistan. Zaman, hailing from Gopalganj district, is the son of former Pakistan commerce minister Wahiduzzaman. The 65-year-old Zaman worked as the director of UNFPA’s south Asia region and executive director of International Council of Management of Population Programme. He retired two years ago and joined the Malaysian organisation. “My father was devoted to the welfare of human being all his life,” his daughter Fariha Zaman told bdnews24.com from New York. “He came under attack while working on a similar project.” Zaman’s two daughters live in California and Boston while his wife lives in Kuala Lumpur, according to bdnews24.com.