FAIZABAD, AFHANISTAN (AFP) – The acting governor of an Afghan province was killed by a suicide bomber yesterday, officials said, months after the region’s police chief was killed in a similar attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
Security improved dramatically since the Taleban stormed back to power in August 2021, ousting the United States (US) – backed government and ending their two-decade insurgency, but IS remains a threat.
The bomber drove a car filled with explosives into the vehicle carrying Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi – the deputy governor of northern Badakhshan before stepping up as acting governor last month – in the provincial capital Faizabad.
“The target of this attack was the vehicle carrying Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi,” said head of culture and information in the province Muazuddin Ahmadi.
The driver was also killed and six others wounded in the attack, which has so far not been claimed by anyone. The head of the province’s police force was killed in a suicide blast claimed by IS in December
last year. A bomb attack also killed the head of the mining department in April last year.
IS has killed and wounded hundreds of people in attacks since the Taleban government returned to power in a bid to undermine the Taleban government.
