Taliban cut into pieces tribal elder in Logar’s Azra district

PUL-I-ALAM (Pajhwok): Taliban insurgents beheaded a tribal elder and cut off his hands, nose and ears in Azra district of central Logar province, a public representative said on Tuesday.

Logar provincial council member Abdul Wali Wakeel told Pajhwok Afghan News the insurgents had kidnapped the elder from Babaro Tribe, Haji Ziyargul, about four days back.

He said Ziyargul had close relations with Mullah Adam Kochi, a Taliban notorious commander in Azra district. “The government also considered Ziyargul a pro-Taliban person. However, he was killed by insurgents themselves.”

According to Wakeel, Ziyargul’s corpse was found in a Taliban-controlled area with severed head, hands, nose, and ears. He identified the 65 years old as a well-known tribal elder in the area.

Logar governor’s spokesman confirmed the incident, but didn’t go into details.

Pajhwok tried to seek comments from the Taliban but a contact could not established.

Azra is located in eastern part of Logar and the road connecting it to Pul-i-Alam, the provincial capital, has been blocked over the past 14 years. The district residents travel through Nangarhar and Kabul to reach the provincial capital.

sns/ma