Kandahar: An Afghan provincial police chief and an official in charge of women`s affairs were killed in separate attacks today, the latest victims of a campaign of targeted killings against government officials.
The police chief for Nimroz province was travelling home from neighbouring Herat province when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the morning hours, said the chief`s secretary Obaidullah, who only goes by one name.
The police chief, Gen Mohammad Musa Rasouli, was seriously wounded and was rushed to the hospital, where he died of his wounds, said the secretary. Rasouli was returning to his job in Nimroz after a short break in Herat province, Obaidullah said.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the insurgency had been tracking Rasouli and had specifically targeted him. "We are continuing to target government officials," Ahmadi said.
Also this morning, gunmen shot and killed the head of the women`s affairs department for the eastern Laghman province, said Sarhadi Zewak, a spokesman for the provincial government.
Nadia Sediqi was on her way to the office from her home on the outskirts of the provincial capital when she was attacked, Zewak said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sediqi`s death. Police are investigating the incident, Zewak said.
The latest attacks come after the attempted assassination of the country`s spy chief, Asadullah Khalid, on Thursday. He was seriously injured when a suicide bomber posing as a Taliban peace envoy detonated a hidden bomb.
PTI
