Taliban Intensify Assassination ProgramAugust 19, 2010
Long War Journal|by Bill Roggio
The Taliban have intensified their assassination program in southern Afghanistan, killing two senior government officials in Kandahar and Zabul provinces.
Two days ago, a Taliban suicide bomber killed the chief of police for the district on Daman in Kandahar province. Three policemen and a civilian were also killed in the Aug.17 attack, which targeted the police chief as he drove toward Kandahar city. The suicide attack in Daman took place just two days after a combined Coalition and Afghan special operations force captured "a key Taliban weapons distributor" along with an undisclosed number of fighters in the district.
In the neighboring district of Dand, the Taliban killed six policemen by poisoning their food. The soldiers died from their meal after breaking the Ramadan fast. The cook who poisoned the food fled and rejoined the Taliban.
In Zabul province, the Taliban killed the provincial Border and Tribal Affairs chief and his wife and wounded his sister in an attack on his home. Zabul is a known haven for the Taliban and al Qaeda. On Aug. 11, Afghan and Coalition forces detained more than 20 suspected "insurgents" in Zabul while targeting an al Qaeda foreign fighter facilitator operating in the district of Shamulzai.