Militants shot and killed a prominent Muslim cleric who had called for peace in Afghanistan along with two members of his family, officials said yesterday, the latest in a string of killings targeting figures perceived as pro-government.
Cleric Rahman Gul, his brother and a relative were gunned down in an ambush on Sunday while returning to their homes in the Chapa Dara district of Kunar Province, the Interior Ministry and provincial police chief General Khalilullah Zaiyie said.
In recent days, Gul, the chief of the district clerical council, had stressed the importance of “peace and stability” across Afghanistan. No one claimed responsibility, but Taliban insurgents are known to target those who oppose their extreme, militant interpretation of Islam.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The shooting capped a weekend of roadside bombings, assassinations, militant attacks and suicide blasts across the country as part of an expected springtime spike in insurgent violence in the war-battered country.
Late on Sunday in Kandahar, a suicide bomber detonated his cache of explosives near the gate of an Afghan Border Police residence.
Kandahar Police Chief Sher Mohammed Zazai said at least three people were wounded in the attack in the northeastern part of the city.
“There was a suicide attacker on a motorbike who blew himself up when he got near the gate,” Zazai said.
Television images of the scene showed a blown-out hole in the wall of the police compound.
Zelmai Ayubi, spokesman for the provincial governor of Kandahar, said at least four border policemen were injured. He said two other suicide attackers entered the police compound, but were shot dead by police during a gunbattle before they could detonate their vests of explosives.
The Interior Ministry said later that the two bombers had succeeded in detonating their explosives, killing only themselves.
Earlier on Sunday, two militants on a motorbike opened fire in the city of Kandahar on a car belonging to a National Security Directorate official who was on his way to work, Zazai said. The intelligence official’s driver was killed.
At least eight civilians died in roadside bomb blasts over the weekend, the ministry said.
One killed five people who were riding in a private vehicle in Chora district of central Oruzgan Province, another went off near a shop in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar, killing three children.
A roadside bomb blast also killed two police officers who were on patrol and injured another on Sunday in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar Province, the ministry said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese