One of the top security officials in Afghanistan has been assassinated by his bodyguard as he left a meeting discussing security arrangements for local elections due to take place on Saturday.
US General Scott Miller, who also attended the meeting, left the compound a matter of minutes before the gunman opened fire, according to Al Jazeera.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Washington Post reports that a Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yusuf Ahmadi, “said in an email to journalists that the group carried out the attack and that [US General] Miller was among the main targets”.
The New York Times says Raziq was considered “an indispensable American ally with influence across critical areas of southern Afghanistan”, particularly adept at keeping Taliban forces in check. He had previously survived “dozens” of attempts on his life.
The lone gunman, reportedly to be a member of the provincial governor’s security team, was shot dead at the scene by security forces.
-
Trump’s poll collapse: can he stop the slide?Talking Point President who promised to ease cost-of-living has found that US economic woes can’t be solved ‘via executive fiat’
-
Codeword: December 7, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Sudoku hard: December 7, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
The Taliban wages war on high-speed internetTHE EXPLAINER A new push to cut nationwide access to the digital world is taking Afghanistan back to the isolationist extremes of decades past
