PULE ALAM, Afghanistan -- The governor of Afghanistan's eastern Logar Province has been killed in a bomb blast.
Governor Arsala Jamal, 47, was killed while he was making a speech in a mosque to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on October 15 in the provincial capital, Pule Alam, which is some 60 kilometers southeast of Kabul.
The governor's spokesman, Deen Mohammad Darwish, said the blast was caused by a bomb placed in a microphone. Other reports say it was a suicide blast.
The Associated Press quotes provincial deputy police chief Rais Khan Abbul Rahimzai as saying the explosion also wounded 15 people, five of them critically.
Jamal was reportedly a close confidante of President Hamid Karzai and had served as his campaign manager during the 2009 presidential election. He had survived a number of assassination attempts in the past.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, although Taliban militants routinely target Afghan officials, Afghan soldiers, and NATO troops.
Governor Arsala Jamal, 47, was killed while he was making a speech in a mosque to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on October 15 in the provincial capital, Pule Alam, which is some 60 kilometers southeast of Kabul.
The governor's spokesman, Deen Mohammad Darwish, said the blast was caused by a bomb placed in a microphone. Other reports say it was a suicide blast.
The Associated Press quotes provincial deputy police chief Rais Khan Abbul Rahimzai as saying the explosion also wounded 15 people, five of them critically.
Jamal was reportedly a close confidante of President Hamid Karzai and had served as his campaign manager during the 2009 presidential election. He had survived a number of assassination attempts in the past.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, although Taliban militants routinely target Afghan officials, Afghan soldiers, and NATO troops.