In a fresh bout of violence in Afghanistan, insurgents shot dead two more pro-government clerics in the troubled southern and eastern parts of the country. Maulvi Mohammad Gul, member of the Ulema Council in Afghanistan's Helmand province, and Maulvi Noor Ahmad, member of the Kunar Ulema Council, were killed in overnight attacks by armed men believed to be activists of the ousted Taliban movement. Earlier, a pro-government scholar Maulvi Mohammad Khan was killed in an explosion in the southwestern Khost province.Officials here, confirming the fresh incidents of violence, said Monday Maulvi Gul was killed when he was offering his night prayer in his native town of Lashkargah. In the second attack that was carried out in Kunar, armed men entered into the house of Maulvi Noor Ahmad and opened fire at him. Both slain clerics were supporting the incumbent government in Kabul. Taliban had warned they would kill those who support the government and the presence of US military in Afghanistan.
The recent killings brought the death toll of pro-government religious scholars to seven. Earlier, Taliban had gunned down eminent scholar and chief of the Kandahar Ulema Council Maulvi Abdullah Fayaz inside his office. His assassination was followed by murder of Ulema Council chief of the neighboring Helmand province.
In a separate attack in Helmand, Taliban fighters attacked a group of security officers killing an intelligence officer and a policeman while two other police officers suffered injuries. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks through statements by spokesman Mohammad Yousaf.
Meanwhile, people in Khost continued their demonstrations for the third day against the killing of Maulvi Mohammad Khan. Thousands of protestors, raising slogans against terrorists, took to the streets to press the government to arrest the perpetrators. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had earlier condemned the killing and directed the law enforcing agencies to immediately net down the terrorists.
| It's like they read Rantburg and Rummy doesn't. I've been suggesting we dispatch kill squads to take out the bad guyz' leaders almost since we started. The Talibs — or more likely their Qaeda controllers, who seem to be somewhat brighter — can obviously see the utility. Had we been sending our own hit squads all along, this might not be happening now. "Pay me now, pay me later." |