Senior Afghan judge shot dead

KABUL, May 3 (Reuters) Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a senior judge in the western Afghan province of Farah, the province's governor said today.

Shaikh Ahmad, the second most senior judge in the province, was killed last evening.

''He was coming home from a mosque when two men on a motorcycle opened fire and unfortunately killed him,'' the governor of Farah, Ezatullah Wasfi, told Reuters.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the killing.

Wasfi said ''the enemies of Afghanistan'' had killed Ahmad, using a term government officials use to refer to Taliban and other anti-government militants.

The Taliban have unleashed a wave of violence in recent months but security officials say much violence stems from land and water disputes, the illegal drugs trade, clan feuds and business disputes.

REUTERS CH HT1010