Taliban governor, 2 others killed in suicide attack in Afghanistan

Kabul, March 9 (EFE).- The governor of the northern Afghan province of Balkh and two others were killed and five others were wounded Thursday in a suicide attack during a work meeting inside his office.

“The blast was caused by a suicide bomber (…) which martyred 3 persons including the governor and wounded five others,” Balkh police spokesperson Mohammad Asif Waziri told EFE.

The blast took place while the Taliban’s governor Mohammad Dawood Muzammil was holding an administrative meeting of the Balkh government.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Muzammil, who was formerly governor of Nangarhar province, is the first governor to lose his life in a possible attack since the arrival of the fundamentalists to power in August 2021.

He was also considered close to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada, and played an important role in fighting the Islamic State forced in Afghanistan.

Muzammil was appointed eight months ago in Balkh, and after his arrival the security situation began to improve, according to some residents of the region.

In addition, girls’ secondary schools in the province, one of the few that remained open briefly despite the Taliban’s nationwide veto, closed after Muzammil arrived.

Although the Taliban have been in total control of Afghanistan for several months, their government, without access to reserves or international banking, has had limited resources to run the country.

Security guarantees and control of extremist terror was one of the main claims of the fundamentalists in the territories under their control during the war with the deposed government and international forces.

However, since coming to power, the terror groups have increased attacks, mainly targeting Taliban members. EFE

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