Afghan provincial governor killed in car bombing

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

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

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