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Kandahar Deputy Governor killed

— Photo: AP

The vehicle in which Deputy Governor Abdul Latif Ashna was travelling when he was killed in Kandahar on Saturday.

KANDAHAR: The Deputy Governor of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the spiritual home of the Taliban, was killed by a suicide bomber on Saturday, said the provincial chief.

“Deputy Governor Abdul Latif Ashna had just left his home and was on his way to his office when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near his vehicle,” said Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa.

One of his bodyguards and his driver were wounded, as were two passers-by, he added.

A fifth person was slightly hurt and did not need hospital treatment.

A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mr. Ashna, a trained engineer, had been Deputy Governor since April 2010. He previously worked for U.N. Habitat, the U.N. programme to improve the urban environment, before teaching at Kandahar University.

He also headed the provincial branch of the Ministry of Rural Development. — AFP

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