Afghan provincial women's affairs chief killed

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sep 25 (Reuters) Gunmen on a motorcycle in Afghanistan shot dead the director of a women's affairs office today and the Taliban said they killed her.

Head of the Kandahar province women's department, Safia Ama Jan, was getting into a car outside her house, on her way to work, when the gunmen struck, a nephew said.

''She died on the spot,'' the nephew, who identified himself as Farhad, told reporters.

He declined to speculate on the identity or motive of the gunmen, except to say: ''We had no personal enmity with anyone.'' The Taliban have killed numerous officials as part of their stepped-up war against the government and foreign forces.

Violence in Afghanistan is now the worst since the Taliban were ousted in a US-led offensive five years ago.

Ms Ama Jan had served as the head of the province's women's affairs department since shortly after the Taliban were forced out.

The United Nations condemned the killing.

''UNAMA is appalled by this senseless murder of a woman who was simply working to ensure that all Afghan women play a full and equal part in the future of Afghanistan,'' said UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan spokesman Aleem Siddique.

A security official said no arrests had been made and an investigation had been launched.

A Taliban commander, Mullah Hayat Khan, said Ms Ama Jan was killed because she worked for the government.

''We have told people time and time again that anyone working for the government -- including women -- will be killed,'' Khan said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Kandahar was the main Taliban bastion of support during the 1990s when the Taliban militia emerged from Islamic schools on the Pakistani border and swept to power. They were ousted after the September 11 attacks in the United States for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden.

US and NATO forces have launched a string of offensives in response to the surge in Taliban attacks this year.

US-led forces killed 10 Taliban today in an offensive aimed at clearing insurgents from eastern and central provinces, the US military said.

Taliban spokesmen were not available for comment but they routinely deny losses reported by foreign forces and the government.

In a separate incident, a suicide bomber attacked an Afghan army vehicle in Khost province, also on the Pakistani border, killing himself and slightly wounding a US soldier.

About 20,000 US troops and the same number of NATO troops are battling the Taliban across the south and east.

Reuters BDP RS2241