Former Afghan parliamentarian killed in landmine blast

KABUL, Afghanistan

A former Afghan parliamentarian was killed in a landmine blast that occurred during a clash with the Taliban in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province, officials said on Sunday.

Piram Qul, the deputy head of the Junbish-e-Mili Afghanistan party led by former Vice President Abdul Rasheed Dostum, was killed in the restive Rustaq district on Saturday evening, Khalil Aseer, a police spokesman in the region, told Anadolu Agency.

Enayatullah Farahmand, the deputy head of Afghanistan’s top peace negotiating body, has dubbed the killing of the former member of the lower house as an “irreparable loss.”

The Taliban have not yet commented on the killing.