Afghan provincial governor killed in car bombing

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the acting governor of northern Badakhshan.

The acting governor of a northeastern Afghan province has been killed in a car bomb, 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 of Faizabad.

The driver was also killed in the attack and six others were injured.

It was not clear who was behind the bombing, 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 returned to power in August 2021, toppling the US-backed government and ending their two-decade struggle, but ISIL remains a threat. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed during the Taliban’s armed insurgency against US-led foreign forces.

The chief of the province’s police was killed in December last year in a suicide attack claimed by IS.

The head of the mining department was also killed in a bomb attack last April.

ISIL, which has a more sectarian agenda, poses the greatest threat to Taliban rule in the country. It has killed and injured hundreds of people, including foreigners and members of the Hazara minority, in an attempt to undermine the Taliban government.

The armed group has also targeted Taliban officials, including alleging that the governor of northern Balkh province was killed in an attack on his office in March.

The Taliban government has conducted raids against members of ISIL.