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The head of the press center of the Afghan government and the former deputy press secretary of the country’s President Dawa Khan Minapal was killed on Friday in Kabul. informs Tolo TV channel citing informed sources.
According to the Associated Press, the Taliban terrorist movement claimed responsibility for the attack on Minapal. A Taliban spokesman said that Minapal “was punished for his actions,” transfers Interfax.
The official was attacked when he left the mosque and got into a car. The murder took place on Dar-ul-Aman Avenue, leading to the palace of the same name, in which the guest house of the presidential administration is located. The building of the Russian embassy is located on the same avenue, notes TASS.
A few days before the assassination of Dawa Minapal, the Taliban announced that they were preparing attacks on top state officials in response to a series of airstrikes against their formations.
Prior to his career in the civil service, Dawa Minapal, having received education in law and political science at the University of Kabul, worked as a journalist in the affiliate of Radio Liberty – Radio Azadi. In 2016-2020, Minapal served as Deputy Press Secretary of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
On May 1, the withdrawal of the international coalition troops from Afghanistan officially began. It was planned to last until September. US President Joseph Biden said that the US military has completed all the tasks assigned to them.
Already in May, simultaneously with the start of the withdrawal of coalition troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban fighters launched an offensive along a wide front. By the end of July, the Taliban had taken control of more than 160 of the country’s nearly 400 districts, as well as several border crossings and sections of important highways. The militants said they control about 90 percent of Afghanistan’s border and 85 percent of the country.
The Taliban offensive is accompanied by a humanitarian crisis. In the city of Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province, shops burned down in fierce battles lasting a week. The local population was left without essential goods.
Fighting is currently taking place in the area of the headquarters of the intelligence service and near the main city prison in Lashkar Gah. Perhaps the Taliban will try to free the prisoners, some of whom are like-minded people, informs Al Jazeera.
During the fighting, a bomb destroyed the office of the charity Action Against Hunger in Lashkar Gah. Her volunteers provided local residents with food.
On Friday, the UN Security Council will host a meeting on the crisis in Afghanistan. The discussion will take place at the initiative of the governments of Afghanistan, Norway and Estonia. The last time such a meeting was held in June, but since then the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly.
“Civilians find themselves between warring parties. They are kicked out of their homes and are often the first victims of hostilities, ”said Mike Boncke, Action Against Hunger Afghanistan Branch Director.
According to the United Nations, in the first six months of 2021 in Afghanistan perished 1,659 civilians. 3,524 people were injured. This is 47 percent more than in the same period in 2020. Between May and June alone, 783 people were killed and another 1,609 injured. This is the highest figure in similar months since the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties in 2009.
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