Kabul  - Eight Afghan senior security officials have been suspended by the country's attorney general over an attack against Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a military parade in Kabul late last month, an official said on Monday.

Karzai survived the April 27 attack but three others, including a lawmaker, were killed and a dozen others were wounded.

The suspension of the senior security officials, including Kabul police chief General Mohammad Salim Asas, came after a presidential decree that tasked Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabet to investigate the facts surrounding the incident.

"The eight security officials from interior, defence and intelligence entities were suspended by Mr Sabet after he was authorized by a presidential decree to take over the investigation," said Hayatullah Hayat, a spokesman for the attorney general.

"The officials will be questioned during the course of the investigation," Hayat said, adding that they would be tried if proven to be guilty of negligence or if not they would return to their posts.

Earlier this month, the Afghan parliament summoned the country's interior and defence ministers and chief of intelligence for the security lapse during the military parade, which marked the 16th anniversary of the Mujahideen's victory over Soviet troops.

The trio received a majority of the no-confidence votes from the present lawmakers that day, but not enough to lose their jobs.

The brazen attack against country's leader in the heart of Kabul last month raised concerns that Taliban militants have gained enormous strength as they were able to target the fortified ceremony despite the presence of thousands of Afghan and international forces stationed around in the area.

Ousted from power in late 2001 in a US-led invasion, Taliban militants have regrouped and warned that they are adamant to topple the Western-backed Afghan government and to expel some 70,000 international troops from Afghanistan. (dpa)