The Taliban’s police chief in Badakhshan, Mawlawi Abdul Haq Abu Omar, was killed along with two other members of the group in a car bombing earlier this morning in Faizabad, capital city of the northeastern province, the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior confirmed. Two others were wounded in the attack, the Ministry added.
Abu Omar is the first Taliban’s provincial police chief who gets killed since the group returned to power in August 2021.
The incident took place on Monday around 08:30 AM local time in front of the residence of Taliban’s police official in Faizabad city. According to the Ministry, the incident took place near the police headquarter in Faizabad.
The Taliban’s police said they have arrested four suspects in relation to the attack.
Releasing a video in which the attack is filmed, the Islamic State – Khurasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the attack
Located in the northeastern part of Afghanistan, Badakhshan is a volatile province where the Taliban and the National Resistance Front – an anti-Taliban militia led by Ahmad Masoud – have fought deadly battles in the past months.
Sibghatullah Ahmadi, a spokesman for the NRF, meanwhile, claimed that Abu Omar was killed as a result of the Taliban’s internal conflict.