Violence claims 8 lives

PUL-I-KHUMRI (PAN): Eight people, including a local police commander and his four guards, were killed in separate incidents of violence in three provinces, local officials said on Monday.

The local police commander, Dadullah, was killed along with his four guards when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Baghlan-i-Markazi district of northern Baghlan province, police chief Col. Mohammad Kamin told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Resident Mohammad Essa said the powerful blast completely destroyed the police vehicle.

In Faryab, police shot dead two motorcyclists after they ignored signals to stop in Maimana, the provincial capital, deputy intelligence department head, Abdul Wasi, said. One Kalashnikov and a pistol were recovered from the dead, he said.

The killing sparked a protest by relatives of the slain motorcyclists in front of the Governor’s House. The demonstrators called for an investigation into the incident and punishment for the killers.

Meanwhile, local officials in southern Helmand province, the hotbed of Taliban fighters, said a community council head in Sangin district was killed by unidentified gunmen late on Sunday.

His dead body was found in a remote area during a joint search by police and relatives, district chief Mohammad Sharif Khan said.

Meanwhile, a boy was killed in a roadside bombing in the same district this afternoon, the Governor’s House said in a statement.

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