Afghan provincial governor killed in car bombing

The acting governor of a northeastern Afghan province has been killed in a car bombing, officials said, months after the region’s police chief was killed in a similar attack claimed by an affiliate of the ISIL (ISIS) group.

The bomber rammed a car filled with explosives into the vehicle carrying Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, acting governor of northern Badakhshan, in the provincial capital Faizabad.

It was not clear who was behind the bombing, which was the first known attack on a Taliban official in Afghanistan in several weeks.

Muazuddin Ahmadi, the head of culture and information in the province, said the governor was the target of the attack.

Security has improved since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, removing the US-backed government and ending their two-decade fighting, but ISIL remains a threat. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed during the Taliban’s armed rebellion against US-led foreign forces.

The head of the province’s police force was killed in a suicide blast claimed by ISIL in December last year.

A bomb attack also killed the head of the mining department in April last year.

The ISIL, which has a more sectarian agenda, poses the biggest threat to the Taliban’s authority in the country. It has killed and wounded hundreds of people, including foreigners and members of the minority Hazara, in a bid to undermine the Taliban government.

The armed group has also targeted Taliban administration officials, including claiming the killing of the governor of northern Balkh province in an attack on his office in March.