Taliban official Zabihullah Amiri killed in Badakhshan, Afghanistan

Gunmen shot Zabihullah Amiri, the director of information and culture for Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, as he traveled from a district to the provincial capital Faizabad. Security guards responded, killing one attacker and capturing the second while authorities opened an investigation.

The Taliban has said such targeted killings of senior officials have been rare since it seized power in 2021. The incident follows a series of previous attacks on Taliban leaders, including the 2024 suicide bombing that killed refugee minister Khalil Haqqani and earlier bombings that killed Badakhshan's deputy governor and the governor of Balkh province.