Uruzgan governor claims poet and writer killed by Taliban

Abdullah Atefi, a poet and historian from Uruzgan province, was killed Wednesday night, allegedly by the Taliban.

According to Mohammad Omar Shirzad, governor of Uruzgan, Atefi was dragged out of his house in Chora district before being killed.

“In any area under Taliban control, the Taliban kill, torture, or threaten scholars, tribal elders, civil society activists, writers, poets, and even women,” said Shirzad.

Meanwhile, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh condemned the incident in a tweet and said “the Afghan brain is under attack; Taliban want a wasteland.”

“Atefi was “taken out of his home in Chora district of Uruzgan by the ISI backed Talibs and shot dead on the spot. His crime – knowing economics and knowing history,” Saleh tweeted.

The Taliban has meanwhile denied involvement in the murder of Atefi.

“The murder of writer and poet Abdullah Atefi in Chora district of Uruzgan province has nothing to do with the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban),” the group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted.

He said Atefi had been an impartial writer and poet.

This comes a well-known local comedian, Nazar Mohammad, who was known as Khasha Zwan, was gunned down last month, by the Taliban, in Kandahar.

According to sources, Khasha Zwan was assaulted by the militants before being killed.

He was allegedly dragged out of his house, with his hands tied behind his back and his body dumped in the Dand district of Kandahar.

Taliban later claimed responsibility adding that Khasha Zwan was not a comedian but he was fighting against them.