Local leader killed in Afghan Taliban attack

A local leader was killed overnight along with two of his sons in a Taliban attack in eastern Afghanistan's Ghazni province, said a deputy provincial governor Wednesday.

"An unknown number of armed militants broke into the house of leader Noor-ul-Haq Aghoundzada. They opened fire and killed him and two of his sons at around midnight in Abdul Rahim village of Andar district," Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told Xinhua.

Recently, Afghan officials and pro-government figures have been repeatedly targeted by the militants as the Taliban insurgents intensified activities against the government across the country.

Earlier Wednesday, a district governor was wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in eastern Nangarhar province, 120 km east of national capital Kabul.

"Qasim Khan, the district governor of Spin Ghar, was slightly wounded in the bomb attack but his vehicle was destroyed in the incident which happened at around midday along a roadway there," provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai told Xinhua, adding "no other member of the motorcade was hurt in the attack".

Prior to this incident, the provincial governor of northern Takhar province, Abdul Latif Ibrahimi, escaped unhurt in another bombing which took place in neighbouring Kunduz province, 250 km north of Kabul.

On Tuesday, the militants shot dead a provincial judge in western Herat province, 640 km west of Kabul.

Up to 312 civilians were killed and 131 were wounded in targeted killings across Afghanistan in the first half of the year, official sources confirmed.