Taliban Assassinate Afghan Governor

Governor Hakim Taniwal, his nephew, and chief bodyguard were killed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up outside the entrance to Taniwal's office, in the provincial capital, Gardez.

"As the result of the explosion, the suicide bomber was killed and also the governor; his aide, and his driver were martyred," Paktia Province police chief General Abdul Hanan Ra'ufi told RFE/RL's  Radio Free Afghanistan. "Also, there are many people injured, who were civilians, including children. Some three civilians were also killed."

Also today, NATO said that alliance and Afghan forces killed 94 Taliban insurgents in battles in the south of the country that started late on September 9 and lasted until this morning.

"Last night, there was a series of operations conducted right on the border of Zherai and Panjwayee, in and around the Arghandab Valley, and during those operations, we assess that 94 Taliban were killed; one was wounded," NATO spokesman Quentin Innis told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan in Kandahar.

Meanwhile, police official Nasaruddin Hamdad said police clashed with gunmen outside the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

The fighting left four people dead -- three police officers and one of the gunmen -- early today.

(with material from agency reports)

The Afghan Insurgency

A U.S. military vehicle damaged by insurgents near Kandahar (epa)

HOMEGROWN OR IMPORTED? As attacks against Afghan and international forces continue relentlessly, RFE/RL hosted a briefing to discuss the nature of the Afghan insurgency. The discussion featured Marvin Weinbaum, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and RFE/RL Afghanistan analyst Amin Tarzi.

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