In a suicide attack, the Taliban governor of an Afghan province was killed in his office

Kabul: The Taliban governor of Afghanistan’s Balkh province, who was known for battling Islamic State militants, was killed in a suicide attack at his office on Thursday, according to officials.
Mohammad Dawood Muzammil was one of the highest-ranking figures assassinated since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. He was assassinated a day after meeting with Kabul-based government officials.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, there has been a dramatic decrease in violence, but the security situation has deteriorated once more as IS has claimed responsibility for several fatal attacks.

“Two persons, including the governor of Balkh, were killed this morning in an explosion,” local police spokesman Asif Waziri told AFP, adding that the incident occurred on the second floor of the governor’s office in the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif.

“It was an act of suicide. We have no information regarding how the suicide bomber reached the governor’s office “he added that two individuals were also injured.

An AFP correspondent near the explosion location reported that authorities had increased security at the governorate and prohibited journalists from taking photographs.

Muzammil was “martyred in an explosion by Islam’s adversaries,” according to a statement by a government spokesman.

Muzammil was initially appointed governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar, where he led the battle against IS militants, before being transferred to Balkh the previous year.

According to a government statement, on Wednesday he met with two deputy prime ministers and other senior officials who were in Balkh to assess a significant irrigation project in northern Afghanistan.

Since last year, IS has emerged as the greatest security threat to the Taliban government, launching attacks against Afghan civilians, expatriates, and foreign interests.

IS has claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks in Balkh, including one in Mazar-i-Sharif that occurred last year.

In January, at least ten persons were murdered when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the foreign ministry in Kabul in an attack claimed by IS.

IS and the Taliban both adhere to a strict Sunni Islamist ideology, but IS is striving to establish a global “caliphate” while the Taliban seek to rule an independent Afghanistan.

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At least five Chinese nationals were injured when gunmen attacked a hotel in Kabul frequented by entrepreneurs in December.

This assault was claimed by IS, as was the December attack on Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul, which Islamabad condemned as a “attempted assassination” of its ambassador.

In September, two Russian embassy employees were murdered by a suicide bomber outside their mission in another attack claimed by IS.