Bomb kills deputy governor in Afghan capital

A deputy governor of Kabul province and his aide were killed on Tuesday by a bomb in the Afghan capital, officials said, the latest in a wave of targeted killings in the country.

Mahbobullah Mohebi was killed when a bomb attached to his vehicle detonated while he was on his way to his office, the interior ministry said.

Mohebi’s secretary, who was travelling with him, was also killed and two bodyguards were wounded. Violence has raged across the country since the Taliban and Afghan government launched peace talks in Qatar in September.

Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, condemned the attack and said the increase in attacks is a clear enemy of the Afghan peace process.

Sima Samar, special presidential envoy and state minister for human rights, tweeted that the “people are tired of terrorist attacks every day”.

Samar also urged the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire to stop the killing and more bloodshed.

Afghanistan — and especially Kabul — have seen a spate of murders of prominent figures, including journalists, clerics, politicians and rights activists.

Last week a female news anchor was shot dead in the eastern city of Jalalabad, the second journalist to be murdered in less than a month.

The capital has been hit by rockets twice this month and recently battled major attacks on educational centres, including a massacre of students at a university campus.

In a separate attack in Kabul on Tuesday, a policeman was killed and two others wounded when gunmen attacked their checkpoint, officials said.

Peace talks have been paused until January, with government negotiators expected to return to Kabul from Qatar this week to meet with senior officials.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and some other senior officials have called for talks to be moved to Afghanistan from Doha.