Mawlawi Ulfat Hashimi, head of the intelligence department of Laghman province, was killed last night, officials said.

Hashimi was killed on Wednesday at midnight in the city of Mehtarlam, the provincial center, as his convoy was patrolling the city, the provincial governor's spokesman Salahuddin Zahid said.

According to the spokesman, Hashimi was killed in a traffic accident in which five of his bodyguards were also injured. Some of those injured are in critical condition, Zahid said.