The World Briefly

March 10, 2023

Militants & Terrorists

Afghanistan

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A blast killed a Taliban provincial governor in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, the latest high-ranking official to be murdered since the new rulers took control of the country in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led foreign troops, the Voice of America reported.

Taliban authorities said Governor Mohammad Dawood Muzamil and two others were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the governor’s office in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province. At least seven others were wounded.

Officials are probing the explosion, but so far no one has claimed responsibility for the high-profile bombing.

Muzamil is the second-most senior Taliban official to be killed since the group took power nearly two years ago: In December, a car bombing killed the Taliban police chief of another province, an attack for which the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), claimed responsibility.

Before moving to Balkh, Muzamil previously served as the governor of the eastern Nangarhar province and supervised operations against IS-K militants there.

IS-K commenced its terrorist activities in war-torn Afghanistan from bases in Nangarhar in 2015 and has since spread violence to neighboring regions.

Hundreds of people have been killed, including members of the minority Shiite population, Taliban officials, and clergy.

In recent weeks, the Taliban has increased counterterrorism operations against IS-K operatives, killing dozens.

Still, the United States regards IS-K as a “dangerous” affiliate of the Islamic State and remains skeptical about the Taliban’s counterterrorism operations against the group.

This story originally appeared in the March 10, 2023 newsletter, He Said, She Said.