An Afghan air force pilot has been killed in a bomb blast in Kabul, claimed by the Taliban, officials said.
The pilot, Hamidullah Azimi, died on Saturday when a sticky bomb attached to his vehicle detonated, officials said, adding that five civilians were wounded in the explosion.
He had moved to Kabul with his family a year ago due to security threats, Eshaqzai added.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the attack in a statement.
Reuters was first to detail a Taliban campaign to assassinate pilots off-base that Afghan officials say killed at least seven Afghan pilots before Saturday’s killing.
The Taliban has confirmed a programme that would see US-trained Afghan pilots “targeted and eliminated”.
US and Afghan officials believe it is a deliberate effort to destroy Afghanistan’s corps of US- and NATO-trained military pilots as fighting escalates across the country.
The Taliban – which has no air force – wants to level the playing field as they press major ground offensives that have seen them swiftly seize territory since May.
Emboldened by Washington’s announcement that it was ending its military mission by the end of August, the Taliban has launched a military blitz across the country which has in recent days.
On Friday, the Taliban captured its first provincial capital in years when it, on the border with Iran in Afghanistan’s southern Nimruz province.
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