Parwan provincial officials said Wednesday a young man shot and killed four of his close relatives before fleeing the area. 

The head of Parwan’s police crime branch, Kazim Khan, said the incident happened at about midnight on Tuesday in Totomdara Bala village center. 

Khan said the man, named Zahid, shot his brother, a sister, his niece and brother-in-law with a hunting rifle. He also shot and wounded another sister.   

The surviving sister told police Zahid had been behind the shooting and claimed he suffered from a “mental illness”, Khan said. 

According to him, efforts are being made to track down the suspect and once captured he will be prosecuted. 

Khan did not however release any further details about the shooting or the victims. 

In another family murder, in April, a Nangarhar man was arrested in connection with the death of at least six members of his uncle’s family. 

Officials said the man shot dead his relatives in Behsod district of Nangarhar province.

Police confirmed at the time that the man entered his uncle’s home and opened fire on the family. He killed his uncle, his uncle’s wife and four of their sons – who were aged between 20 and 35 years old. 

Two children were also wounded in the shooting. 

Nangarhar police said the suspect was arrested after the shooting and immediately confessed to the crime. 

Just days earlier, a Jalalabad man shot his wife, his father and mother during a domestic dispute.