09 March 2023 , 14:05
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A bomb blast in Afghanistan has killed a senior Taliban governor who was known for his role in fighting against Islamic State.
Mohammad Dawood Muzammil is one of the highest-ranking figures to be killed since the Taliban swept back to power in 2021.
The suicide bomber reached the second floor of the brute's office to detonate the bomb in the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif.
“Two people, including Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the governor of Balkh, have been killed in an explosion this morning,” a local police spokesperson, Asif Waziri, told Agence France Presse.
He continued: "It was a suicide attack. We don’t have information as to how the suicide bomber reached the office of the governor,” adding that two people had also been wounded.
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Muzammil was “martyred in an explosion by the enemies of Islam”, government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted.
Taliban holding a military parade in Kandahar (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Muzammil was appointed governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar, where he led the fight against the Islamic State. He later moved to Balkh in the north.
His death came just a day after he met two deputy prime ministers and other senior officials visiting Balkh to review a large irrigation project in northern Afghanistan, a government statement said.
Since last year, Islamic State has been the Taliban government’s biggest security challenge and they have carried out a few attacks in Balkh, including in Mazar-i-Sharif over the last year.
In January, at least 10 people were killed by a suicide bomber near the foreign ministry in Kabul, an attack IS claimed.
Local police said what caused today's blast was unclear and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
In December, at least five Chinese nationals were wounded when gunmen stormed a hotel popular with businesspeople in Kabul. That raid was claimed by IS, as was an attack on Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul that month that Islamabad denounced as an “assassination attempt” against its ambassador.
Two Russian embassy staff members were killed in a suicide bombing outside their mission in September, another attack claimed by IS.
Meanwhile, the wife of French-Afghan journalist Mortaza Behboudi, who has been held for over 50 days by the Taliban, has told the Mirror of her concerns for his wellbeing.
She said: "I'm worried for his physical state, I'm worried for him for his psychological and mental state. I'm worried about how long this will take and if he will be released.
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"The uncertainty of this situation is really, really killing me."
The Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed to VOA News that he was being detained by the directorate of intelligence.