Militants cut off the nose and ears of an Afghan civil servant, then shot him dead near the capital apparently because he worked for the government, police said on Wednesday. Omid, a 30-year-old who like many Afghans went by only one name, was kidnapped in Puli Alam, the capital of Logar province, 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of Kabul, on Tuesday.
His mutilated body was found on the outskirts of Puli Alam on Wednesday, said Logar police chief, Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewanay. “Police found the body of Omid this lunchtime — his nose and ears had been cut off before he was shot,” Rogh Lewanay said. “We have intelligence that he was killed by the Taliban because he was a government employee.”
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied the group was responsible. The militia routinely kills Afghans employed by the government or US-led NATO military as part of their campaign to bring down President Hamid Karzai’s Western-backed government. Logar, once regarded as relatively peaceful, has seen a surge in insecurity in recent years.
