Taliban kill critic, attack Afghan governor

By Yahya Nabwi

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Taliban gunmen killed a
powerful former governor of an Afghan province and four of his
guards on Saturday, and hours later tried to kill the
province’s current governor.

The violence in Ghazni province, south of the capital,
Kabul, came a day after nine policemen were killed in a blast
as they were bringing back the bodies of four Macedonians
kidnapped and killed by the Taliban and dumped in a valley.

Violence has increased in Afghanistan in recent months,
especially in the south and east, as the Taliban and allied
militants step up efforts to oust foreign forces and overthrow
the Western-backed government.

Gunmen in a car shot Taj Mohammad, an outspoken opponent of
the Taliban and a former governor of Ghazni province, near his
home, said Habibullah Khan, administrative chief of the
province’s Andar district.

Four of Mohammad’s bodyguards were also killed. Two
suspected Taliban had been arrested, he said.

Mohammad, widely known as Qari Baba, had been involved in
the war against Soviet occupying forces in the 1980s and was
Ghazni governor in the 1990s and again after the Taliban were
ousted.

A Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul, claimed responsibility.
The Taliban have killed several prominent opponents over the
past year, including pro-government Muslim clerics.

Several hours later, Taliban ambushed the province’s
current governor, Shair Alam Ibrahimi, after a visit to an
outlying area.

“While we were coming back Taliban ambushed our convoy. In
the fighting between my guards and the Taliban, four of them
were killed, the rest escaped,” Ibrahimi told Reuters.

Another Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, claimed
responsibility for that attack.

The Taliban have vowed to step up violence in coming weeks
as the weather warms up and snow blocking mountain passes
melts. U.S. commanders have also said they expect an increase
in insurgent raids and bombs.

The nine policemen were killed in a blast in the southern
province of Kandahar on Friday while returning with the bodies
of the Macedonians, discovered hidden under brush and sticks in
a valley near the border with Helmand province.

The Taliban said they kidnapped the Macedonians, who were
working for a services company, on March 11. A Taliban
spokesman later said they had been killed on the orders of
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001.

NATO members including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands
are sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan while the
United States is hoping to trim its 18,000-strong force by
about 3,000.

(Additional reporting by Yousuf Azimy, Mirwais Afghan,
Saeed Ali Achakzai)