Afghan provincial official gunned down
Two men on a motorbike gunned down an Afghan provincial official as he walked to work on Wednesday in the main southern city of Kandahar, police said.


Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the assassination. The killing comes as NATO and Afghan forces move into the 12th day of a major offensive to push militants out of a Taliban stronghold in neighboring Helmand province. The military alliance reported Wednesday that fighting was tapering off but bombs and gunmen continued to pose a threat. Clearing roadside bombs and precautions to prevent civilian casualties have slowed the largest joint military operation since the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001, which planners see as key to taking on the insurgents in their southern heartland and turning around the war. Military officials have said the assault in Marjah is just the first push in a campaign that will move east into Kandahar province — the Taliban’s birthplace and where the hard-line Islamist group still controls large swaths of territory.

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