KABUL: A regional br­­a­­nch of the militant Is­­la­­mic State group has clai­med a rare deadly at­­tack on a Taliban official in northeastern Afghanis­tan, a monitoring group said.

The head of the inform­ation and culture department in Badakhshan, Zabihullah Amiri, was shot dead on Tuesday while en route to the provincial capital Faizabad.

The Islamic State-Kho­rasan (IS-K) group claimed on Wednesday that it had carried out the attack.

“The soldiers of the Caliphate targeted a commander from the apostate Taliban militia… with machine guns, killing him along with one of his guards,” it said in a statement quoted by monitoring organisation SITE Intelligence Group. Amiri was a nephew of Amanuddin Mansur, the governor of southern Helmand.

Afghanistan’s information and culture ministry said one of the assailants was killed and a second arrested after the “cowardly attack”.

The ministry “reminds the enemies of the Islamic government that such cowardly acts will never weaken our firm resolve and steadfast determination”, it said on Tuesday.

Taliban officials have vowed to restore security to Afghanistan, but sporadic attacks remain since they returned to power in 2021.

IS-K had claimed responsibility for a Dec 2024 suicide bombing in Kabul that killed Taliban minister Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2026