A mayor in southern Afghanistan was killed in a suicide attack Wednesday, local officials confirmed. Authorities say Kandahar mayor Ghulam Haidar Hamidi was leaving a city hall meeting when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives. Hamidi died instantly and one civilian was injured.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has also claimed responsibly for the recent deaths of three other government officials. Earlier this month three attackers loyal to the Taliban stormed the home of Jan Mohammad Khan, a top advisor of President Hamid Karzai, and killed him. Hashim Watanwal, a member of Uruzgan province’s parliament, was also killed in the attack.
Khan and Watanwal’s killings came less than a week after President Karzai’s half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was assassinated during a meeting at his home. A security guard shot Karzai, the council chief of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, in the head and chest. The Taliban claimed the guard was working for them.
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