Assassins kill Kabul deputy governor with magnetic bomb on his car

Credit: HEDAYATULLAH AMID/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Assassins killed the deputy governor of the Afghan capital by putting a magnetic bomb on his armoured car as he drove to work.

Mahboobullah Mohebi was killed alongside his secretary in the latest in a wave of killings targeting politicians, civil servants, journalists and activists.

Elsewhere a deputy provincial council member was also killed hours earlier by a similar attack in the remote Western province of Ghor.

Neither attack was claimed, but  government officials blame the Taliban for the wave of assassinations, saying the insurgents want to sow fear and destabilise the government. Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent months.

The use of magnetic, or so-called sticky bombs, has leapt in Afghanistan and in recent weeks Kabul has seen attacks almost every day. The homemade devices are put under vehicles, or sometimes on their roofs. The most sophisticated versions are designed to punch through the protection of an armoured car.

Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the council overseeing tortuous talks with the Taliban, condemned the attack and said the increase in attacks is a clear enemy of the Afghan peace process.

Sima Samar, special presidential envoy and state minister for human rights, tweeted that the "people are tired of terrorist attacks every day".

She also urged the Taliban to agree to a "cease-fire to stop the killing and more bloodshed".

America’s troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban and the tentative start of negotiations between Ashraf Ghani’s government and its Taliban foes have failed to stem bloodshed in the country.

A ceasefire is top of the government’s agenda, but the Taliban’s military pressure is their biggest bargaining tool and the militants have refused to reduce attacks. Scores of civilians and government forces are being killed each week in continued clashes.

Talks between the two sides on Tuesday halted for a 20-day break, after months trying to hammer out basic ground rules and an agenda for discussions. 

Separately, the Afghan defense ministry said the army had repelled a Taliban attack in the district of Arghandab, outside Kandahar, where the insurgents are waging a multi-pronged offensive.