Bid to blow up grave in Jawzjan thwarted

SHIBERGHAN/KUNDUZ CITY (PAN): An attempt at blowing up the grave of a pro-government commander was prevented and a landmine planter killed by his own explosives in northern Jawzjan and Kunduz provinces, officials said on Monday.

Col. Faqir Muhammad Jawzjani, the provincial police chief, said a landmine placed inside the grave of Mirwais in the Tunka locality of Shiberghan was defused by police with cooperation from residents.

After joining the peace process in March 2013 along with 10 others, Mirwais had been serving as Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander in Qush Tepa district before he was killed by Taliban four months back. Local officials blamed the rebels for placing such mines.

With no immediate reaction from the insurgent movement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid recently said funeral prayer for ALP officials was un-Islamic and asked people not to attend such ceremonies.

But Maulvi Wali Muhammad, a religious scholar from Jawzjan, said desecration of dead bodies ran counter to Islamic teachings. He denounced blasts in graveyard as a grave sin that Muslims should not commit.

According to another report, a mine planter was killed by his own explosives in the Khanabad district of Kunduz province. Col. Abdul Manan, the district police chief, said the man had attached the mine to his bicycle.

Another person was injured in the incident, the police officer said.

mm/mud

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