Third Afghan government official killed in a week

A local government official has been assassinated in southern Afghanistan, the third official killed in Helmand province in a week. Two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at a member of the Nawa district council Tuesday evening in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. The councilman was rushed to a hospital but died of his wounds, the governor’s office in Helmand said Wednesday. In two incidents Sunday, militants killed a councilman and chief prosecutor from Gereskh district. On Friday, a man with a bomb hidden in his turban blew himself up outside the Helmand governor’s compound. One policeman was injured in the blast.