Guards killed, Balkh bank robbed of $1m

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (PAN): Gunmen shot dead three guards of a private bank and escaped with id=”mce_marker” million before setting the branch on fire in an attack in northern Balkh province, officials said on Monday.

The overnight attack was carried out on a branch of the Aga Khan Microfinance Bank in Khulam district  centre, the town’s administrative head, Syed Ibrar, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the attackers shot dead one guard and beheaded two of his sleeping colleagues before decamping with the money. The assailants also torched the bank’s building.

Balkh police spokesman, Col. Sher Jan Durrani, said a suspect had been arrested in connection with the incident. He called the attack complicated in nature, saying police had launched an investigation.

The assault came two years after a Kabul Bank branch was attacked in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital. Six guards were killed and the bank looted in the daring attack.

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