Head of Afghan government media department was shot dead at a mosque by the Taliban, AFP reported. This came as the ministry had warned it would target senior officials in retaliation for air strikes. 

“Unfortunately, the savage terrorists have committed a cowardly act once again and martyred a patriotic Afghan,” interior ministry spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai said of the death of Dawa Khan Menapal in a statement. 

“He (Menapal) was a young man who stood like a mountain in the face of enemy propaganda, and who was always a major supporter of the (Afghan) regime,” he continued. 

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The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid sent a message to the media on behalf of Taliban, claiming responsibility for the death , saying, “he was killed in a special attack carried out by mujahideen.”

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Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has been witnessing intensification of the fights since May 2021.  While the Taliban already controls the majority of the countryside, it is now aiming to fight it out with Afghan government forces for more. The day following an attempt at assassinating the defence minister, militants warned that there would be more attacks on the Afghan government officials.

Menapal was earlier the spokesperson in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s outreach team. His assassination marks the latest act of rebellion by the Taliban to weaken Ghani’s democratically elected, western backed regime.

The war torn country has seen many journalists, bureaucrats and public figures getting killed by the Islamist group for dreaming of an liberal Islamist nation.

According to the United Nations, at least 40 civilians have been killed and more than 100 injured in the said time period in fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban in Lashkar Gah. All this while, the public has been supporting the Afghan forces In Herat people raised slogans in support of the security forces, after United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office was attacked.