Militants Kill Pro-Government Afghan Clerics

17 October 2005 -- Suspected Taliban militants have shot dead a pro-government cleric in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan and another in Kunar Province.
Mohammad Wali, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said cleric Mohammad Gul was killed late on 14 October as he left his mosque in the regional capital Lashkargah.

The killing came two days after another pro-government cleric, Mullah Mohammad Khan, died in a bomb blast at his mosque in the eastern Khost Province.

The Associated Press also reports a third cleric, Noor Ahmad Jan, was shot dead by militants at his home late on 14 October in eastern Kunar Province.

A local intelligence chief and a police officer were also reported killed today in Helmand Province.

Officials blame the rising violence on the Taliban, who are active in Afghanistan's south and east, where some 1,200 people have been killed in attacks this year.

(Reuters/AP)


See also:

Afghanistan: Violence Increasing In South, East