By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Militants ambushed an influential former governor near his home in an eastern Afghan city and killed him and four others, while three suspected Taliban were killed in a botched raid on a provincial leader's convoy, officials said.
The violence comes just days after Taliban commander Mullah Omar purportedly threatened a major rebel resurgence.
Both of Saturday's attacks occurred in Ghazni, a province in eastern Afghanistan that has been spared the worst of the fighting that has wracked this country in the past year and raised fears for its nascent future.
Militants ambushed the former governor, Taj Mohammed Qari Baba, as he was driving to his home in Ghazni city with a driver, bodyguard and two relatives, said Ali Ahmad, a provincial police chief. All were killed when the militants riddled their vehicle with gunfire.