Kabul – A deputy governor of Kabul province and his assistant were killed by a bomb in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, officials said. It was just the latest in a wave of targeted killings in the country.
Mahbobullah Mohebi died when a bomb attached to his vehicle detonated on his way to his office, the Interior Ministry said.
Mohebi’s secretary, who was traveling with him, was also killed and two bodyguards were injured.
Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat / Anadolu Agency / Getty
Hours later, in central Ghor province, a similar bomb killed Abdul Rahman Akshan, the deputy head of the provincial council.
Akshan was killed and his two bodyguards injured when a “sticky bomb” detonated on his vehicle in the town of Feroz Koh, a local official said.
Violence has raged across the country since the Taliban and Afghan governments started peace talks in Qatar in September.
Afghanistan – and Kabul in particular – has seen a wave of murders of prominent figures, including journalists, clergy, 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 missiles twice this month and recently fought major attacks on educational centers, including one massacre of students on a college campus.
In a separate attack in Kabul on Tuesday, a police officer was killed and two others injured when gunmen attacked their checkpoint, officials said.
Peace talks have been suspended 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 from Doha to Afghanistan.