The governor of Balkh Province in the Taliban, Daoud Muzammil
Afghanistan and the Taliban
ISIS claims responsibility for the attack that killed the governor of the Afghan province of Balkh
A powerful explosion occurred in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh Province, northern Afghanistan.
The explosion targeted the headquarters of the state governor’s administration, and resulted in a number of deaths and injuries.
The last picture of the ruler of Balkh (in the middle) yesterday with Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Baradar (wearing a muzzle) in one of the projects in Balkh, and the engineer Abdul Rahman Attash appears with them
And local media confirmed the killing of the governor of Balkh province in the Taliban, Daoud Muzammil.
Later, on Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that killed the Taliban-appointed governor of Afghanistan’s Balkh province.
The organization said in a statement, published by its Amaq news agency, that one of its fighters waited for the governor of the state outside his office and then “hurried to him, detonating his explosive belt, targeting him directly,” quoting AFP.
Sources told Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath that the governor of Balkh province was killed in the explosion, which occurred during an administrative meeting.
A Taliban police spokesman said the bomb killed the governor and two others.
Information stated that Dawood Muzammil was a prominent military leader in the Taliban, and had a strong relationship with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and appeared in a documentary film for an Iranian government channel years ago, talking regarding his fight once morest the Americans.
He became deputy interior minister, and then governor of Balkh province under the Taliban government.
And Muhammad Daoud Muzammil, who met the day before with senior government officials who came from Kabul, Thursday became one of the senior Taliban officials to be killed in such circumstances since the group’s return to power in August 2021.
Violence in various parts of Afghanistan has decreased dramatically since the Taliban seized power, but the security situation has deteriorated once more, with ISIS adopting a number of bloody attacks.
“It was a suicide attack. We have no information on how the suicide bomber reached the governor’s office,” the police said. It indicated that two other people were wounded.
The explosion occurred moments following the governor arrived at his office, according to Khair El-Din, who was injured in the accident.
And the authorities deployed security reinforcements in the province and prevented journalists from taking pictures, according to an AFP correspondent from a place near the site of the explosion.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter that Muzammil was killed in an “explosion carried out by the enemies of Islam”.
Muzammil was initially appointed governor of Nangarhar Province (east), where he led the battles once morest ISIS fighters, before moving to Balkh last year.
On Wednesday, Muzammil met two deputy prime ministers and other senior officials who visited Balkh to oversee a major irrigation project in northern Afghanistan, according to a government statement.