LASHKAR GAH: Gun­men opened fire on a gathering of Afghan clerics in the southern province of Helmand, killing seven people, police said on Wednesday.

The Ulema Council, the highest religious authority in the country, came under attack after it had repeatedly announced its support for security forces fighting the Taliban insurgents.

“The meeting was ongoing when two Taliban gunmen attacked the gathering,” police official Jan Aqa said.

Four civilians and three police personnel were killed and seven people wounded in the attack at Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

Afghan forces rushed to the scene and killed the two gunmen in the ensuing three-hour gunbattle, security officials said.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack and said 15 officials were killed.

Numbering some 3,000 clerics and scholars and headed by a 150-strong National Council, the powerful clerics can sway public opinion significantly through mosques across the country.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2015

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