Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Kandahar provincial council chief, was killed during a gathering, said provincial governor Tooryalai Wesa. He did not know a motive.
While the governor initially said a friend killed Karzai, his spokesman later clarified that the death was at the hands of a guard.
Karzai suffered bullet wounds to his head and chest, said Mohammad Dawood Farhad, the head of Kandahar Hospital.
"My brother Ahmad Wali Karzai was killed today," said the Afghan president in a previously -scheduled news conference with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "The Afghanistan people have suffered a lot. Every Afghan family has suffered. I hope one day these sufferings end."
