Taliban kill Afghan media chief in Kabul; take southern city

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban ambushed and killed the manager of Afghanistan’s authorities media halfway connected Friday successful the superior of Kabul, the latest sidesplitting of a authorities authoritative conscionable days aft an assassination effort connected the country’s acting defence minister.

The slaying comes amid Taliban advances and battles for much territory arsenic U.S. and NATO forces implicit their last pullout from Afghanistan by the extremity of the month. The Taliban person been waging fierce battles for months crossed Afghanistan, laying siege to provincial capitals successful the southbound and westbound of the state aft capturing territory aft territory and adjacent seizing respective cardinal borderline crossings.

Also Friday, successful confederate Nimroz province, the superior of Zaranj appeared to beryllium the archetypal provincial superior to autumn to the Taliban though the authorities claimed determination was inactive fierce warring astir cardinal infrastructure successful the city. But the Taliban posted images connected societal media showing insurgents wrong the section airdrome and posing for photographs astatine the entranceway to the city.

Nimroz is sparsely populated successful a portion that’s chiefly godforsaken and Zaranj, the provincial capital, has astir 50,000 residents. Its autumn to the Taliban, if confirmed, was a mostly symbolic triumph for the insurgents.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that the insurgents killed Dawa Khan Menapal, the main of the Afghan government’s property operations for section and overseas media. He had antecedently been a lawman spokesperson for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

The assassination took spot during play Friday prayers, according to the Interior Ministry’s lawman spokesman, Said Hamid Rushan. After the shooting, Afghan forces fanned retired crossed the vicinity of Kabul wherever Menapal was gunned down portion riding successful his car.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, aboriginal enactment retired a connection claiming work and said that Menapal “was killed successful a peculiar attack” by the mujahedeen, oregon beatified warriors.

The Taliban often people authorities officials and those they comprehend arsenic moving for the authorities oregon overseas forces, though respective caller attacks person been claimed by the Islamic State group. The authorities astir often holds the Taliban responsible.

Earlier this week, a Taliban bombing onslaught targeted Afghanistan’s acting defence minister, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi. The onslaught successful a heavy guarded upscale Kabul vicinity precocious Tuesday killed astatine slightest 8 radical and wounded 20. The curate was unharmed.

The bombing was followed by a weapon conflict that besides killed 4 Taliban fighters. The militants said the onslaught was to avenge Taliban fighters killed during authorities offensives successful agrarian provinces.

Meanwhile, Afghan and U.S. craft pounded Taliban positions successful confederate Afghanistan’s Helmand state connected Friday, arsenic the insurgents closed a large borderline crossing with neighboring Pakistan.

Residents successful Helmand’s contested provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, said airstrikes destroyed a marketplace successful the halfway of the metropolis — an country controlled by the Taliban. Afghan officials accidental the Taliban present power 9 retired of the 10 districts of the city.

Afghanistan’s elite commandos person deployed to Lashkar Gah, backed up by airstrikes by the Afghan and U.S. aerial forces.

The Taliban began sweeping crossed Afghanistan astatine an unexpected velocity aft the U.S. and NATO began their last pullout successful precocious April.

The bitter warring has displaced hundreds of thousands of Afghans, present surviving successful miserable conditions improvised shelters and makeshift camps successful the southern, desert-like situation — brutally blistery days and acold nights. Inside the cities wherever warring is underway, thousands are trapped and incapable to determination from their homes.

In the confederate metropolis of Kandahar, the superior of the state with the aforesaid name, hundreds are sheltering successful makeshift camps, wondering wherever they volition get nutrient for their children. In the Helmand superior of Lashkar Gah, the shuttered bureau of Action Against Hunger, a planetary humanitarian organization, was deed successful an aerial onslaught connected Thursday, the radical said successful a statement. Fighting had forced the enactment to adjacent its bureau past week.

More than fractional of Afghanistan’s 421 districts and territory centers are present successful Taliban hands. While galore of the districts are successful distant regions, immoderate are profoundly strategic, giving the Taliban power of lucrative borderline crossings with Iran, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

In southeastern Afghanistan, the Taliban past period took power of the municipality of Spin Boldak connected the borderline with Pakistan, 1 of Afghanistan’s busiest borderline crossings. Thousands of Afghans and Pakistanis transverse regular and a dependable watercourse of trucks passes through, bringing goods to land-locked Afghanistan from the Arabian Sea larboard metropolis of Karachi successful Pakistan.

The Taliban shuttered the crossing Friday implicit a visa dispute, claiming Pakistan was abiding by Kabul authorities requirements for Afghans traveling into Pakistan to person a passport and a Pakistan visa. Previously, question documents were seldom demanded and Afghans with section ID paper could transverse into Pakistan.

“The borderline volition enactment closed until Pakistan allows each Afghans to transverse connected the bases of our aged procedure,” said the Taliban statement.

At the border, traders said astir 1,500 radical were waiting connected some sides Friday to walk through. More than 600 trucks, galore loaded with perishable caller foods, were backed up successful some countries.

Islamabad’s narration with Kabul has been profoundly troubled with some sides accusing each different of harboring militants. Afghan Taliban leaders unrecorded successful Pakistan and Kabul is bitterly captious of Pakistan for aiding them and treating their fighters successful hospitals successful Pakistan. Islamabad meantime charges that Kabul provides a harmless haven to the Pakistani Taliban, a abstracted militant radical that regularly stages attacks successful Pakistan.

Gannon reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Abdul Sattar successful Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.