Conflicts & War

Local legislator in Afghanistan killed in shootout with security forces

Kabul, Jan 14 (efe-epa) – Regional legislator of the western Afghan province of Ghor, Ezatullah Big, was killed on Thursday in a shootout with Afghan security forces while trying to avoid arrest, leading to tension in the region due to calls for revenge by his armed supporters.

The incident occurred shortly before noon in Firozkoh, the capital of Ghor, when security forces tried to arrest the member of the Provincial Council for allegedly being responsible for the death of another parliamentarian and a journalist.

A member of the security forces was also killed in the shooting, while two other Afghan troops and two of the Big’s bodyguards were injured, Ghor’s Governor Noor Muhammad Kohnaward told EFE.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS), the main Afghan intelligence agency, said in a statement that Big was wanted for allegedly being behind the murder of Attshan, then vice-chair of the Provincial Council, and the head of the Sada-e-Ghor (the Voice of Ghor) radio station, Bismillah Adil Aimaq.

“Special forces of the National Directorate of Security were trying to arrest Ezatullah Big, Provincial Council member, but instead of surrender, Ezatullah Big opened fire on security forces and was killed in the exchange of fire,” the NDS explained in a statement.

A member of the security forces in the province, who asked not to be named, told EFE that after the shooting, “a number of armed supporters of Mr. Big are now try to disrupt the security in the city but security forces trying to keep the city calm and secure.”

Since the last one year, Afghanistan has been witnessing a series of unprecedented targeted attacks on journalists, activists, politicians and intellectuals in Afghanistan, where shootings or bombings on victims’ vehicles have become an almost daily reality in the country.

Although the government has directly blamed the Taliban for the killings, the insurgent group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks, and has directly blamed Afghan security forces for carrying them out to fabricate negative propaganda against them. EFE-EPA

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