Arsala Jamal was appointed by President Hamid Karzai, like all 34 provincial governors, and he was viewed as a close ally of the president, acting as one of his campaign managers in the 2009 election.
“This morning, governor Jamal was delivering a speech after Eid prayers when he was killed with a bomb planted in the microphone,” Logar provincial governor spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish. “The governor wished to speak and congratulate everyone on the occasion of Eid. At the least 18 others have already been wounded, including civilians and government employees.”
Continue after the break.Jamal only took up the Logar job in April after serving as governor of Khost, on the border with Pakistan. No group claimed immediate responsibility for the blast, though Taliban militants often target provincial government officials as well as Afghan soldiers and police.
Mr Karzai condemned Jamal's killing, saying the attack in the mosque showed the Taliban had no respect for Islam.
Earlier in his presidential Eid address on Tuesday, he again appealed for peace.
“Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban to work for the development of their country, and to spare Afghan security forces who are working to safeguard their soil, national dignity, and to avoid carrying out attacks,” his office said.
“(The president) once more called on the Taliban and their leaders to not throw the youth of this country into destruction.”
Mohammad Jan Abid, head of the criminal investigative department in Logar, confirmed the mosque bombing and said a probe will be launched.
Volatile Logar, which lies to the south of the Afghan capital, is seen as a vital strategic region, often called a “gateway to Kabul” for Taliban militants located in strongholds throughout the south and east.
Security in the province has deteriorated lately, with the Taliban holding sway in certain areas despite sustained Afghan and US military pressure.
Village-based Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces have already been active attempting to wrestle back control of Taliban-held territory.
The Taliban have vowed to step up attacks as Afghanistan prepares for presidential elections in April and the withdrawal of 87,000 NATO troops by the conclusion of next year.
Taliban supremo Mullah Omar on Sunday said he “rejected” the elections, which he alleged were being manipulated by foreign powers, and called on Afghans to not participate. The hardline Islamist Taliban regime was driven from power with a US-led coalition in 2001 for sheltering the al-Qaida leaders behind the 9/11 attacks.
The US and Afghanistan are currently in the last stages of talks on a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would see thousands of US troops remain in the united kingdom to aid stability and continue training of local security forces. Omar warned any US bases remaining on Afghan soil “will never be accepted”, and that “armed jihad will continue against them with an increase of momentum&rdquo ;.
Eid ul Adha is a major public holiday throughout the Muslim world, with mosques set with devotees marking the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to.Sheep and goats are sacrificed in many households and the meat distributed among family, friends and the poor.
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