Afghan district governor among three killed in suicide attack

KUNDUZ - A district governor in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz and two other people were killed Thursday when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a government building, officials said.

Abdul Wahid Omarkhel, the chief of the Chardarah district, died on the spot when the bomber detonated his explosives-filled vest inside Omarkhel’s office compound, said Abdul Rahman Aqtaash, deputy provincial police chief.

Five people were injured in the blast, said Mahboobullah Sayedi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Omarkhel served for several years as governor of Chardarah, which had been considered the most dangerous district in northern Afghanistan, and personally took part in numerous anti-insurgent operations in the district.

The area was long dominated by the Taliban and had seen heavy fighting. Afghan, German, US and Belgian troops began an offensive there at the end of October. It lasted until January, military officials said, when the militants were pushed out of Chardarah, military officials said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday’s bombing.