Member of Afghan parliament killed

A member of the Afghan parliament was mistakenly killed in an early morning shootout between his bodyguards and police officers, officials said today.

Mohammad Yunos Shirnagha, from northern Baghlan province, was killed as he was returning home around at about 2.30am today, said provincial police chief General Kabir Andarabi.

Officers were hiding in an area near the provincial capital, Pul-e-Khumri, where they expected militants to transport a Taliban commander wounded in fighting Tuesday, local police said. That battle left four police officers and four insurgents dead, according to police.

When Shirnagha’s vehicle arrived in the area, police shouted for it to stop. When the driver did not stop, a gunfight broke out between police officers and bodyguards protecting Shirnagha, a member of Afghanistan’s upper house of parliament.

His driver was also killed and one of his friends was wounded, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry has sent its chief of counterterrorism, Abdul Manan Farahi, to the area to investigate.