Afghanistan, July 6 -- Afghanistan's first astronaut, Abdul Ahad Momand, was laid to rest in Kabul on Monday after his body was returned from Germany, where he died last week at the age of 67 following a prolonged illness.
Funeral prayers were held at Kabul's Eidgah Mosque before Momand was buried at Maranjan Hill Cemetery. The ceremony was attended by Taliban officials, family members and hundreds of mourners who gathered to pay their final respects to Momand.
According to the Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Momand's body was repatriated from Stuttgart, Germany, at the request of his family so he could be buried in his homeland. Family members said he had been battling cancer.
Momand made history in 1988 when he became the first ...