Gunmen kill judge, niece in Afghan house raid

Kabul: Gunmen burst into a family home of a provincial judge in eastern Afghanistan, killing him and his niece in the latest assassination of an Afghan government official, authorities said yesterday.

Mohammad Nazir, the head of the appeals court for Kunar province, was visiting family in neighbouring Nangarhar province on Saturday night when gunmen stormed into his sister-in-law's house and opened fire, said Mohammad Asan, the administrator of Khogyani district in Nangarhar. Nazir and his eight-year-old niece were both killed, Asan said.

Nazir's wife and another five children were wounded, said provincial health department adviser Syed Hafandi.

Two of the children are in serious condition at a hospital, he said.