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Governor of key southern Kandahar province sacked

The governor of Afghanistan's key southern Kandahar province said on Thursday he was sacked by the central government and complained that powerful people in his region had been sabotaging his work.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 12:55 December 4, 2008
  • Gulf News

Kandahar: The governor of Afghanistan's key southern Kandahar province said on Thursday he was sacked by the central government and complained that powerful people in his region had been sabotaging his work.

Rahmatullah Raufi, a former army general, was appointed as governor of Kandahar province in August, replacing a powerful but controversial former governor, Assadullah Khalid. But after only three months, Raufi said that officials in the capital said he must go.

"Last night I received a call from Kabul saying that you are fired," Raufi said.

"Personally I do not want to work either, because some of the powerful people in Kandahar were creating problems in my job," Raufi said, without elaborating. He did not identify who in the government told him he was sacked.

Barna Karimi, an official with Afghanistan's Independent Directorate for Local Governance in Kabul, confirmed Raufi was fired, but did not provide other details.

The southern provinces are the center of the Taliban-led insurgency and Kandahar province is the spiritual heartland of the Taliban. The power base of President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai's brother is the head of the provincial council. The province is also Afghanistan's second-leading producer of opium poppies, behind neighboring Helmand province.

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