— Photo by Reuters

KABUL: A suicide bomber assassinated an Afghan peace envoy and his son on Friday in an eastern part of the country bordering Pakistan, officials said.

Maulavi Mohammad Hashem Munib, the head of the High Peace Council in Kunar province, was the target, said provincial police chief Ewaz Mohammad Nazari.

“He was on his way home from Friday prayers when he was attacked by a suicide attacker,” he told AFP.

Kunar, which borders Pakistan, is a stronghold of the Taliban-led insurgency against President Hamid Karzai's goverment and its Western allies.

The national head of the High Peace Council, former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, was assassinated last year by a purported Taliban.

As well as trying to negotiate with insurgents, the High Peace Council runs efforts to reconcile militants by offering them money and jobs.

Mohammad Masoom Stanikzai, a senior official of the National Peace Council, said: “With regret we have been made aware that Maulavi Mohammad Hashem Munib and his son have been martyred in a suicide attack in Kunar province.”

“He was an influential figure in Afghanistan and had drawn many insurgents to lay down arms and join the peace process... He was targeted by the enemies of peace.” Afghan officials frequently use the phrase “enemies of peace” to refer to the Taliban.