Taliban assassinates head of Afghan govt media department

Kabul: The Taliban has assassinated Dawa Khan Menapal, head of the Afghan Government Media Department and a bitter opponent of Pakistan, in Kabul. The Taliban has accepted responsibility for the attack. Dawa Khan was a Pakistan critic. It is, therefore, that Afghanistan has accused the Taliban of assassinating him to protect Pakistan’s interests. On the other hand, in an onslaught of local media against the Taliban, it said targeting journalists, media chiefs and human rights activists amounted to war crimes.

Two days ago, the Taliban struck the Defence Minister’s home in Kabul with a suicide bomb attack. Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi had escaped the attack. However, the Taliban had threatened to target Afghan leaders and officials to seek revenge for the airstrikes the Afghanistan forces had undertaken. On Friday, the Taliban realised their threat by assassinating Dawa Khan, the head of the Afghan government media department in Kabul.

Also, on Friday, the Taliban seized control of Zaranj, the capital city of Nimroz province, reports said Nevertheless, the Afghan government has claimed that clashes with the Taliban are still ongoing in Zaranj city. Zaranj, a city bordering Iran, is recognised as a major trading hub. As a result, the trading carried out at the Iranian border is expected to be affected to a certain extent.

Meanwhile, the Afghan forces are continuing attacks on the Taliban. The Afghan Defence Minister announced the military had slain 406 Taliban militants in their operations in the last 24 hours. Fierce attacks on the Taliban are being launched in Helmand’s provincial capital Lashkargah. The Afghan Army said Mawlawi Mubarak, the senior commander of the Taliban’s Red Army unit, had been killed along with 40 other militants.

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