NNA - The Taliban governor of Afghanistan's Balkh province was killed in a blast at his office on Thursday, police said.

"Two people, including Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the governor of Balkh, have been killed in an explosion this morning," the province's police spokesman Asif Waziri told AFP.

He said it was unclear what caused the blast.

Muzammil is one of the highest-ranking Taliban officials to be killed in such circumstances since the group returned to power in August 2021.

He was initially appointed as the governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar where he led the fight against Islamic State jihadists, before being moved to Balkh last year. ----AFP

============R.A.H.