Kabul – A top Afghan general, Abdul Shahrwand, has been killed in a bomb explosion, the country’s Ministry of Defence has said.
Defence spokesman, Gen. Mohammad Radmanish, said on Thursday in Kabul that Shahrwand was killed when a home-made bomb exploded while he was visiting army personnel in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province.
“Gen. Abdul Basir Shahrwand was inspecting Afghan army posts in the Kata Sang area of Shahwalikot when he stepped on an IED (improvised explosive device),’’ Radmanish said.
He said that Shahrwand was severely injured by the explosion and died while on the way to the hospital.
“This is the third incident this year where a top army general has been killed and the second one in Kandahar.
“Gen. Atta Mir Agha was killed in Helmand in February while General Khan Agha was killed in Kandahar in March,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Zabul province, eight Afghan police officers were killed when two fellow officers opened fire on them.
Haji Jan, a council member of Zabul province said that the policemen, who had connections with the Taliban, set fire to the checkpoint and took a police ranger and weapons with them.
The checkpoint is located in Zafar Khel area on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, around 12 kilometres from Qalat, the provincial capital.
Spokesman Habibulrahman Afzal told newsmen recently that the Defense Ministry had been concerned about infiltration into the security forces and that a new strategy was being implemented against it.
Zabul is one of the most embattled provinces in Afghanistan, with frequent clashes between rival factions of the Taliban following a disputed succession of the group’s leadership. (dpa/NAN)
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