Deputy governor among dead in Afghan attacks
Deputy provincial governor, shot dead in southern Kandahar province, among five people killed in past two days.
Attacks across Afghanistan, including the fatal shooting of a deputy provincial governor, have killed five people in the past two days as the country commemorated the most revered religious day in the Shia calendar.
A bomb exploded on Monday in the main bazaar of Gardez, eastern Paktia province’s capital, killing three civilians and wounding 14, said General Zelmai Oryakhail, the local police chief.
A public holiday in Afghanistan, Ashoura sees Shia Muslim commemoratee the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the seventh century. Some Sunnis also mark the day.
On Sunday, a gunman in southern Kandahar province attacked Deputy Governor Abdul Qadeem Patyall, shooting at him through the window of a classroom at Kandahar University, said Samim Khpolwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
Patyall, who was studying to become a teacher, was seriously wounded and later died, Khpolwak said.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sent condolences to Patyall’s family and described his killing as a terrorist attack.
A government delegation also launched an investigation into the attack.
Gunmen also killed Judge Abdul Majid on Sunday as he was on his way home from a mosque in Feroz Koh, the capital of Ghor province, said Abdul Hai Khateby, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.
Taliban fighters have increased attacks on government officials in recent months ahead of most foreign troops withdrawing from the country at the end of the year.