KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The mayor for Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province has been killed in an explosion, officials said, the second high-ranking official of the Taliban administration to be the target of deadly attacks in the region in the past two weeks.Habib Ur Rahman Mansoor was killed in the blast in the provincial capital of Faizabad late on Thursday while he was in his vehicle, the Interior Ministry said, without providing further details on the attack. A senior official on Friday also confirmed the killing, which comes as the Taliban prepare to mark the fifth anniversary of their sweeping back to power on Aug. 15, 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S. and other NATO forces. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the incident.Two weeks ago, a pair of gunmen shot and killed Zabihullah Amiri, Badakhshan’s director of information and culture, as he headed from a local district to Faizabad. His security guards immediately opened fire on the attackers, killing one and capturing the other, officials said.
There was no information on the motive for the attacks.Targeted killings of high-ranking Taliban officials have been rare but not unknown since the Taliban seized power.
