Education official shot dead in Afghanistan

A district education official was shot dead and three officials injured in a shooting in Afghanistan's northern province of Balkh on Tuesday, an official said.

"Noorullah Noori, head of the education department of Dawlat Abad district, was killed and three district education officials wounded," Xinhua quoted district Governor Amir Shah as saying.

The killed along with the injured were shifted to the district hospital. The attackers fled the scene after firing, the source said.

More than 3,540 civilians were killed and over 7,450 injured in the violent-hit south Asian country since last year, according to a report released by the UN mission in the country.

The report has attributed 62 percent of the casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 17 percent to security forces while the rest 21 percent of civilian casualties were unattributed or caused by explosive remnants of war.

Out of the casualties, some 850 civilians were killed and 570 wounded in targeted attacks in 2015.