Afghan spymaster resigns over civilian casualties

KABUL, Afghanistan

Afghanistan's intelligence chief on Thursday quit over the killing of four civilians in a security operation in the country's east.

Mohammad Masoum Stanekzai’s resignation came in an emergency security meeting chaired by President Ashraf Ghani, said a statement issued by the presidency.

The statement said Ghani ordered an investigation into an operation in the Nangarhar province on Wednesday night which left four brothers dead.

Earlier in the day, scores of Afghans in the province took to the streets to protest the civilian casualties.

The protesters were carrying the bodies of the deceased during a demonstration in the provincial capital Jalalabad. They chanted anti-government slogans and accused security forces of being engaged in a spree of civilian casualties in the province.

At the occasion, Abdul Rauf Shpon, a member of parliament, accused the CIA-trained and funded 01-Unit of the National Directorate of Security spy agency of repeating such deadly incidents of civilian casualties.

Earlier, the 01-Unit said in a statement that a financier of pro-Daesh militants along with his three allies were killed in the operation.

Among the four people killed in the attack were a local judge, a parliament employee, and two currency traders, local Ashna Radio reported.

Amid ongoing rejuvenated yet fragile peace talks, Afghanistan has witnessed an alarming spike in violence claiming lives on all sides.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented over 1,500 civilian casualties in July alone, i.e. at least 50 civilians killed or wounded on daily basis.