Kidnapped imam found dead in Ghazni

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): A prayer leader kidnapped a day earlier was found dead in southern Ghazni province on Wednesday, when four civilians sustained injuries in a roadside bombing in Kandahar, officials said.

Unknown gunmen kidnapped the imam Najibullah, from Chambaran village of Muqar district on Tuesday and his body was found in Katan area of Gilan district on Wednesday afternoon, the Muqar district chief, Sahib Khan, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said militants were in control in Chambaran area, where Afghan forces had no security posts.

The motive behind the kidnap-murder case and identity of the kidnappers remained unknown, he said, but added security forces had launched an investigation.

A Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the group’s involvement in the killing of the prayer leader and blamed it on the Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel, a claim Khan dismissed as propaganda.

In Kandahar, four civilians were injured when the vehicle they were travelling in struck a roadside bomb in Maiwand district, the governor’s house said.

In a statement, the governor’s house also said three suspected militants were arrested and some weapons seized during an operation by Afghan forces in Arghandab district.

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