Former Taliban Minister Assassinated In Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Reports say a former Taliban minister has been shot dead in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar.

A source close to Alhaj Mawlawi Abdul Raqib told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the former Taliban minister was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on him in Peshawar on February 17.

There has been no confirmation from the Taliban of Raqib's death.

Raqib, an ethnic Uzbek from the northern Afghan province of Takhar, was refugee minister during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

He was running a religious seminary, Madrassa-e Sultania, in Peshawar.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan and Radio Mashaal and AIP