Chief of Afghan government’s media department assassinated – police

Police have confirmed that the head of the Afghan government’s media information center, Dawa Khan Menapal, has been assassinated in Kabul, the country’s capital. The attack has been claimed by the Taliban.

“Unfortunately, the savage terrorists have committed a cowardly act once again and martyred a patriotic Afghan,” Interior Ministry spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai said, referring to Menapal’s killing. Stanikzai shared a photo of his deceased colleague.

Menapal had previously been the director of the Public Library of Afghanistan, as well as working as the director of information culture in Kandahar Province for several years.

According to Afghanistan’s TOLOnews, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

The assassination came just days after the Taliban warned they would target senior officials in the Kabul-based administration in response to an escalation of airstrikes in the war-torn country.

The group has stepped up operations following the drawdown of allied forces, reclaiming territory from the government in Kabul. The US is expected to complete its pullout by August 31, marking the end of a two-decade-long campaign.

On Tuesday, the Taliban said it was behind a deadly attack on the residence of Afghanistan’s acting defense minister, in which at least eight people were killed and many others wounded. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid warned it was just the beginning of retaliatory operations.

The US and Canada have both started receiving Afghan evacuees amid concerns that those who helped allied troops during the protracted conflict will face reprisals from an increasingly assertive Taliban.

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