KHOST, Oct 16: About five thousand Afghans protested on Sunday against the assassination of a pro-government religious figure in a suspected Taliban bomb blast, urging the government to protect Islamic clerics from further attacks.

Mullah Ahmad Khan was killed on Friday after a bomb planted in his mosque’s pulpit went off just before prayers in Tanai district in eastern Khost province.

Fifteen worshippers were wounded in the blast which officials said was part of the Taliban’s campaign against supporters of President Hamid Karzai.

No Taliban official could be reached since Friday for comment about the killing of Khan. Members of the radical group have in the past killed a number of influential clerics who had preached against the militants.

The protests were led by Khost University students.—Reuters