Taliban kill social council head inside Helmand mosque

LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): The Taliban, the district police chief said on Friday.

Capt. Faizullah Akhundzada told Pajhwok Afghan News four armed men dressed in Afghan National Army (ANA) uniform forced their way into the mosque and shot dead the grey-bearded Masoom Khan during Isha prayers.

Aziz Ahmad, the victim’s cousin, blamed the insurgents for the attack. However, he gave no further details of the overnight incident.

Separately, two motorcyclists sprayed a police guard with bullets in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, on Friday. Bacha Gul Bakhtiar, the police chief, said gunmen opened fire on the policeman in a vegetable market, killing him on the spot.

He, however, said intelligence officials in the area had detained the killers, who were being interrogated.

rm/mud