Attacks across Afghanistan, including shooting death of deputy governor, kill 5 people

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Attacks across Afghanistan, including the fatal shooting of a provincial deputy governor, killed five people as the country marked a major Shiite holiday, authorities said Monday.

In southern Kandahar province, a gunman attacked Deputy Gov. Abdul Qadeem Patyall, shooting at him Sunday through the window of a classroom at Kandahar University, said Samim Khpolwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Patyall, who was studying to become a teacher, was seriously wounded and later died, Khpolwak said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sent condolences to Patyall’s family and described his killing as a terrorist attack. A government delegation also launched an investigation into the attack.

Late Sunday, gunmen also killed Judge Abdul Majid as he was on his way home from a mosque in Feroz Koh, the capital of Ghor province, said Abdul Hai Khateby, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for either of Sunday’s slayings. Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks on government officials in recent months ahead of most foreign troops withdrawing from the country at the end of the year.

Violence continued into Monday. In eastern Paktia province, a bomb exploded in the crowded main bazaar of Gardez, the provincial capital, killing three civilians and wounding 14, said Gen. Zelmai Oryakhail, the local police chief.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which came on a public holiday in Afghanistan for Ashoura, the Shiite Muslim commemoration marking the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the seventh century.