Badakhshan mayor killed in Faizabad blast ahead of Taliban anniversary

Kabul,UPDATED: Aug 14, 2026 14:14 IST

The mayor of Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province, Habib Ur Rahman Mansoor, was killed in an explosion in Faizabad late on Thursday, officials said. The killing comes as the Taliban administration prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of its return to power on August 15, 2021, after the withdrawal of US and other NATO forces.

The attack is the second deadly strike on a senior Taliban official in Badakhshan in the past two weeks. Targeted killings of senior Taliban figures have been uncommon since the Taliban seized power, but there have been several such attacks in recent years.

The Interior Ministry said Mansoor was in his vehicle when the blast took place in the provincial capital. It did not give further details. A senior official also confirmed the killing on Friday and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the incident.

Two weeks ago, Zabihullah Amiri, Badakhshan's director of information and culture, was shot dead by two gunmen while travelling from a local district to Faizabad, officials said. His security guards returned fire immediately, killing one attacker and capturing the other.

There was no information on the motive for either attack. In June 2023, Badakhshan's deputy governor, Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, and his driver were killed in a car bomb in Faizabad. A regional affiliate of the Islamic State group, known as Islamic State in Khorasan Province, claimed responsibility for that attack and for a suicide bombing at a memorial service for Ahmadi days later that killed at least 13 people.

In March 2023, the governor of the northern province of Balkh was killed in a bomb attack on the governor's office. In December 2024, refugee minister Khalil Haqqani was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul. Haqqani was the uncle of Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who leads a powerful network within the Taliban. Mansoor's killing adds to a series of attacks on senior Taliban officials, including two in Badakhshan in recent weeks.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends