Actor Helmandi dies in Lashkargah airstrike

LASHKARGAH (PAN airstrike along with three insurgents who had seized the star on suspicion of spying for the government in southern Helmand province, his brother said on Sunday.

Helmandi had gone to Khoskabi area on the outskirts of Lashkargah to inquire after his ailing sister, when he was captured by the armed rebels, Dilawar told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The insurgents were interrogating Helmandi when the airstrike took place, killing the actor and the rebels, said Dilawar, who identified his slain brother’s mutilated beyond recognition body from his clothes and shoes.

Prior to the Saturday’s incident, Dilawar said he received a phone call, telling him the Taliban had arrested a man on spying charges. He came to know it was his brother after the airstrike.

The police headquarters confirmed the airstrike, saying a local rebel commander Mohammad Alam was among those killed.

Helmandi has worked in more than a dozen films highlighting issues like narcotics, terrorism and other anti-social activities.

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