ISLAMABAD: The governor of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan was killed in a suicide attack on Thursday as he took office, the highest Taliban official to be killed since he took over. power after the exit of the US-backed regime in August 2021.
Mohammad Daoud Muzammil and one other person died while many were reportedly injured in the 9.30am blast which was so far unacknowledged by any group. But suspicion fell on the Islamic State’s (ISKP) Khorasan province, the regional affiliate of the Islamic State which has become the biggest security challenge for the Taliban authorities and is also known as Daesh.
Muzammil had led the fight against the ISKP during his previous term as governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar before being transferred to Balkh in October last year.
Thursday’s strike came a day after Muzammil, according to an Afghan government statement, hosted the country’s two deputy prime ministers and other officials to review a major irrigation project in the region.
That meeting had coincided with claims by local Taliban authorities that they had killed eight “rebels and kidnappers” in Mazar-e-Sharif without specifying which “rebel” group they were allegedly affiliated with.
“The suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest,” an official source said. YOU of Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital, on Thursday. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, tweeted that the governor had been “martyred in an explosion by the enemies of Islam” while adding that an investigation is ongoing.
The ISKP carried out a series of attacks against locals, especially members of the minority Shia community, as well as foreigners and foreign interests. He claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last January that killed at least 10 people near the Foreign Ministry in Kabul.
Prior to this, the ISKP had targeted a hotel in Kabul last December where more than 30 Chinese nationals were staying. The attack left five Chinese people injured and prompted a shaken Beijing to recall its citizens from the war-ravaged country.
On December 2, 2022, the group had attacked Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul in a failed attempt to assassinate the country’s ambassador. Last September, an ISKP suicide bombing outside the Russian mission killed two embassy staff. Taliban leaders generally downplay the threat from the Islamic State despite international reports of the group’s growing activities.
Mohammad Daoud Muzammil and one other person died while many were reportedly injured in the 9.30am blast which was so far unacknowledged by any group. But suspicion fell on the Islamic State’s (ISKP) Khorasan province, the regional affiliate of the Islamic State which has become the biggest security challenge for the Taliban authorities and is also known as Daesh.
Muzammil had led the fight against the ISKP during his previous term as governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar before being transferred to Balkh in October last year.
Thursday’s strike came a day after Muzammil, according to an Afghan government statement, hosted the country’s two deputy prime ministers and other officials to review a major irrigation project in the region.
That meeting had coincided with claims by local Taliban authorities that they had killed eight “rebels and kidnappers” in Mazar-e-Sharif without specifying which “rebel” group they were allegedly affiliated with.
“The suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest,” an official source said. YOU of Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital, on Thursday. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, tweeted that the governor had been “martyred in an explosion by the enemies of Islam” while adding that an investigation is ongoing.
The ISKP carried out a series of attacks against locals, especially members of the minority Shia community, as well as foreigners and foreign interests. He claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last January that killed at least 10 people near the Foreign Ministry in Kabul.
Prior to this, the ISKP had targeted a hotel in Kabul last December where more than 30 Chinese nationals were staying. The attack left five Chinese people injured and prompted a shaken Beijing to recall its citizens from the war-ravaged country.
On December 2, 2022, the group had attacked Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul in a failed attempt to assassinate the country’s ambassador. Last September, an ISKP suicide bombing outside the Russian mission killed two embassy staff. Taliban leaders generally downplay the threat from the Islamic State despite international reports of the group’s growing activities.
