2 blasts hit Afghan eastern city kill district governor, wound 8, Taliban claim responsibility

A district governor was killed and eight others, including a lawmaker, sustained injuries as two blasts shocked Jalalabad the capital of Nangarhar province 120 km east of Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday. In the first incident which happened at around 09:00 a.m. local time, a district governor was killed and five others were injured, officials confirmed. "A bomb blast targeted the vehicle of Nazian district governor this morning in Jalalabad city this morning killing him on the spot and injured five others," an official told Xinhua but declined to be identified, saying authorized officials would brief the media after an investigation. Meanwhile, another official with the public relation office of the provincial government confirmed the incident and said "a bomb was planted inside the vehicle of Noor Agha Kamran, the governor of Nazian district, and the device exploded at around 09:00 a.m. local time killing the district governor and injuring one police and four civilians." However, he didn't provide more details. Zabihullah Mujahid who used to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media via telephone from unknown location insisted that the Taliban militants targeted Nazian governor with bomb attack and killed him along with a few others. In a related incident, a roadside bomb struck the vehicle of a parliamentarian in Behsoud area outside Nangarhar's provincial capital Jalalabad at around 02:30 p.m. local time injuring three persons including the lawmaker. "A bomb planted by militants on a road in Behsoud district outside Nangarhar's provincial capital Jalalabad struck the vehicle of member of parliament Abdul Ghafar injuring him along with two of his bodyguards," an official with the public relation office of Nangahar governor told Xinhua but declined to be named. Taliban militants fighting the government have sped up their activities since January this year.