The governor of Balkh province was killed in an explosion.
The spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Balkh confirmed to the BBC that Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the Taliban governor for Balkh province, was killed in an explosion in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif this morning.
According to Mohammad Asif Waziri, two civilians also lost their lives in this explosion.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government, has also confirmed Mr. Muzammil’s death in an explosion.
It is said that the explosion occurred inside the governor’s office building, and so far no group has claimed responsibility for today’s explosion.
Mohammad Dawood Muzammil was one of the prominent Taliban commanders during the group’s war with the former Afghan government and international forces in the country.
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Mr. Muzammil was the governor of Nangarhar province, where he led the fight against the group known as the Islamic State or ISIS. After some time, he was appointed as the deputy of the Ministry of Interior by the Taliban leader, but five months ago his role changed, and he became the governor of Balkh.
This is the first senior Taliban official at this level to be killed since their takeover of Afghanistan.