Kabul’s deputy governor and his assistant have been killed in a blast in Afghanistan, police say, adding that a sticky bomb was attached to his car by unknown assailants.
Deputy Governor Mahboobullah Mohebi was travelling to work on Tuesday with his security guards when a bomb attached to his vehicle detonated, the interior ministry said.
Afghanistan’s TOLO news, quoting Kabul police, reported on Twitter that “Mohibullah Mohammadi, the deputy governor of Kabul, and his secretary were killed in a blast from an IED placed on their vehicle”.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast in which two of Mohebi’s guards were also injured.
Violence has raged across the country since the Taliban and Afghan government launched peace talks in Qatar in September.
Afghanistan – and especially Kabul – have seen a spate of murders of prominent figures, including journalists, clerics, politicians and rights activists.
Last week a female news anchor was shot dead in the eastern city of Jalalabad, the second journalist to be murdered in less than a month.
The capital has been hit by rockets twice this month and recently battled major attacks on educational centres, including a massacre of students at a university campus.
In a separate attack in Kabul on Tuesday, a policeman was killed and two others wounded when gunmen attacked their checkpoint, officials said.
Peace talks have been paused until January, with government negotiators expected to return to Kabul from Qatar this week to meet with senior officials.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and some other senior officials have called for talks to be moved to Afghanistan from Doha.
