Militants kill district chief in Afghanistan

[maddezmom]

HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) - Suspected Taliban gunmen shot dead a district chief in an ambush in western Afghanistan, officials said, as another official escaped a similar attack in the east of the country.

Abdul Zahir, chief of Gulran district in western Herat province, was gunned down in his car while travelling to Herat city, the provincial capital on Wednesday, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

One of his bodyguards was wounded, ministry spokesmen Dad Mohammed Rasa said, adding that it was not clear whether the attackers were in vehicles or lying in wait at the roadside.

"The enemies of Afghanistan carried out this attack," Rasa told AFP, using the Afghan government's usual description for the ousted Taliban movement and its Islamist allies.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061207/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunrest_061207085247