A senior Ministry of Education official was killed in a bomb blast near the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, killing at least two people. activists in the country.
Abdul Baqi Amin, director of the Scientific Council of the Ministry of Education, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Kabul.
The attack on Amin comes less than a week after Fawzia Koofi, a member of the government’s negotiating team, was injured in an assassination attempt in northern Kabul.
There have been direct attacks on rights activists and religious scholars in recent months. Experts see this as an attempt to intimidate and weaken Afghanistan’s civil society before the talks.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came a day after more than a dozen rockets were fired in the capital by killing at least three people.
Amin was part of the Afghan delegation that participated in several high-level meetings with the Taliban in the Qatari capital Doha, where they discussed issues related to violence and women’s rights.
Taliban condemns attack
The Taliban, which has repeatedly refused to negotiate with the Western-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, agreed to attend the meeting on condition that those present would do so in person.
Amin also had the chief Taliban negotiator, Mullah Baradar, in January 2020 in Doha, pleads for peace in the country.
“All sides are tired of the war and are seeking peace and stability in the country; at the same time there are concerns about some problems among all Afghans, and many of these concerns are related to the post-US Taliban agreement. Therefore, reassuring people about these issues is a must at this stage, “Amin was quoted as saying on the website of QASED Strategic Research Center, a Kabul-based independent research organization, of which he general manager and member of the board.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen condemned the attack on Amin, saying he was targeted by “the enemies of the Islamic system, prosperity and peace “.
Many took to social media condemning his death and calling the attackers “peace spoilers”.
It is with deep sadness that I learned this morning from the murder of Dr. Abdul Baqi Amin, Director-General of QASED Strategic Research Center (@QasedResearch) and Chairman of the Scientific Council to the #Afghanistan Ministry of #Education, en route 1/2 pic.twitter.com/5clpufP7bJ
– Sultan Barakat (@BARAKAT_Sultan) August 19, 2020
Dr Abdul Baqi Amin, head of QASED Strategic Research Center, and head of the MoE Academic Council has been assassinated by anti-peace spoilers. he was too active in peace activities.
God bless him. pic.twitter.com/F57DqkR3oU– Mutmaeen (@Metmaeen) August 19, 2020
Dr. Abdul Baqi Amin was a renowned scientist, author, lecturer, analyst and peace activist. He really loves this country and they are people. I know how hard he worked for peace and prosperity in county. RIP Dr. sb. 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/devkTUE3Cf
– Abdul Baqi Sultani (@BaqiSultani) August 19, 2020
Bombings and attacks continue to be frequent in Afghanistan, as the Taliban government and armed group are expected to take part in peace talks, which have been delayed due to differences over the release of Taliban prisoners.
The release of prisoners is part of the US-Taliban agreement signed in February, which saw Washington agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for a speech by the armed group to hold peace talks with the Afghan government. hold.
There is no date yet for the start of talks, which were originally scheduled to take place in March.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
