AFGHAN LOGAR GOVERNOR KILLED IN MOSQUE BLAST

         KABUL, 11 Dzulhijjah/16 October 2013 (MINA) – The provincial governor of eastern Afghan province of Logar, Arsala Jamal, was killed and at least 15 civilians were wounded Tuesday morning in a bomb attack in a provincial capital mosque, a provincial source said.

       “Governor Arsala Jamal was reading out a message to the locals following the Eid al-Adah prayers. At that moment, an improvised explosive device (IED) planted under the tribune was detonated, killing Jamal at the scene,” provincial government spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish told Xinhua.

        Fifteen people were injured in the incident which took place at around 8:45 a.m. local time in Pul-e-Alam, some 60 km south of national capital Kabul, he noted, Xinhua quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

       The injured were shifted to a hospital where five of them remained in critical conditions.

Security was beefed up across the country since Monday as the war-weary Afghans celebrates the Muslim’s biggest festival of the Eid al-Adah with four day holidays since Monday.

       No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban insurgent group was likely behind such attacks.

       The Taliban, who ruled the country before they were ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, staging ambush and suicide attacks, killing combatants as well as civilians.

       Recently, Afghan officials and pro-government figures have been repeatedly targeted by the Taliban. Over a dozen Afghan officials had been killed since Sept. 1 this year in targeted killings in the war-hit country.

        The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan recently reported that over 1,310 Afghan civilians were killed and more than 2,500 wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in the first half of the year, a 23 percent rise in overall civilian casualties compared with last year. (T/P013/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)