The governor of Balkh province was killed in an explosion.
The spokesperson for the Taliban commander in Balkh confirmed to BBC that Mohammad Dawood Mazlum, the Taliban governor of Balkh province, was killed in an explosion in Mazar-i-Sharif city this morning.
According to Mohammad Asef Waziri, two civilians also lost their lives in this explosion.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government, has also confirmed the death of Mr. Mazlum in an explosion.
It is said that the explosion took place inside the provincial government building. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for today’s explosion.
Mohammad Dawood Mazlum was one of the prominent commanders of the Taliban during their war against the former Afghan government and international forces in the country.
After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Mr. Mazlum was the governor of Nangarhar province, leading the fight against the group known as the Islamic State or Daesh. After some time, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Interior by the Taliban leader’s order, but his responsibilities changed five months ago and he became the governor of Balkh.
This is the first senior Taliban official at this level to be killed after their takeover of Afghanistan.