Ezatullah Bik, a member of the provincial council in the western province of Ghor, was killed in clashes with the National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces on Thursday, the NDS said in a statement. 

The clashes took place after the NDS forces attempted to arrest Bik who was a suspect in the killing of both Bismillah Adil Aimaq, a local journalist, and Abdul Rahman Atishan, the deputy provincial council of the province, the statement said. 

Contact groups from both sides of Afghan peace negotiations have held three meetings since last Saturday and the agenda of the talks has been divided into six categories, sources familiar with the talks said on Thursday.

Negotiators from both sides have confirmed that reaching a consensus on the agenda has taken longer than expected, but negotiators have optimism that an agenda will be agreed upon by next week.