Afghan Taliban’s Minister for Refugees Killed in Kabul

By Staff, Agencies

The Afghan minister for refugees has been killed in an explosion at the ministry's offices in the capital Kabul.

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban's acting minister for refugees, “has been martyred along with some of his colleagues," a government official told AFP on Wednesday, requesting not to be named.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast.

Khalil Haqqani became a minister in the Taliban's interim government after US-led forces withdrew from the country in 2021.

Haqqani was handling the incoming refugee crisis in Afghanistan. He was also the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister.

A senior official at the Ministry of Interior told CBS News that Haqqani was killed in a "suicide attack" along with at least four of his associates.

The Taliban's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, later confirmed Haqqani's death in the attack and blamed the Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic acronym for “ISIS” / “ISIL”] branch in Afghanistan.

Since their return to power, several senior Taliban leaders have been killed, including provincial governors, commanders and religious clerics, mostly in attacks claimed by Daesh terrorists.