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Afghanistan: IS claims to have killed Taliban police chief

December 27, 2022

The "Islamic State" group says it assassinated a senior Taliban security official in the province of Badakhshan. The militants have ramped up their attacks since the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year.

https://p.dw.com/p/4LSRe
Taliban security personnel pictured in Kabul
The Taliban says four suspects have been arrested in connection with the incidentImage: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo/picture alliance

The so-called "Islamic State" (IS) on Monday claimed to have assassinated a top Taliban police official.

According to the militant group's propaganda mouthpiece Amaq, the Taliban's senior police official in the province of Badakhshan, Abdul Haq Abu Omar, was killed in a car bomb..

Taliban say two others also killed

A video showing the moment of the purported bombing near the provincial police chief's headquarters was released.

IS issued a brief statement claiming to have parked a car laden with explosives on a road used by the police chief to get to work.

The Taliban's Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Nafi Takor, said that another two people were killed and two others were wounded in the blast.

Four suspects were arrested in connection with the incident, according to the spokesman for the Taliban.

'Islamic State' ramps up attacks

There have been numerous attacks on the Taliban since the group took power in Afghanistan in August 2021. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province, a local affiliate of IS, has claimed responsibility for many of the attacks.

The attacks often target religious and ethnic minorities, and Taliban leaders.

Earlier in December, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Chinese-owned hotel in Kabul. Three of the militant group's fighters were killed.

The group also claimed responsibility for targeting the Pakistani Embassy in the capital. A guard was injured and some damage was done to the building. The group had been targeting the ambassador, who escaped unhurt.

Further afield, Israeli authorities said they had arrested a suspect in connection with twin bombings in Jerusalem that killed two people last month. The suspect allegedly identified with the "Islamic State" group.

kb/dj (dpa, AP, Reuters)