By DPA,
Kabul : The governor of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar escaped unhurt Monday when an attacker opened fire on his convoy, a government spokesman said.
Gul Agha Sherzai was en route to the provincial capital Jalalabad when an assailant equipped with a rifle and hand grenades attacked his convoy, the governor’s spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said.
“The governor and his team were not harmed in the firing,” he said, adding that security forces captured the attacker.
Moments earlier, a second attacker wearing a suicide-vest entered a hotel where provincial authorities including the deputy provincial governor were in a meeting, he said.
“The police guarding the hall killed the bomber before he could detonate his explosives,” Abdulzai said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that two of their bombers entered government buildings in the city, but could not give further details.
The Taliban have carried out attacks at government buildings in the past, including several such assaults in Kabul.
The powerful Pashtun tribal leader and former minister Sherzai is one of the most influential figures in Afghanistan. He has served as mujahideen leader against the Taliban regime, and recently withdrew his candidacy from the August presidential elections in favour of President Hamid Karzai.