An Afghan tribal leader was killed in the southern province of Helmand, officials said Sunday, dpa reported.
Haji Abdul Zaheer Aryan was shot Saturday night in a shop in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, the governor's office said.
The local leader for the Alizai Pashtun tribe was also deputy chief of provincial peace council and former district governor for Marjah, where US troops stage major offensives in 2010.
No one claimed responsibility for the killing but the governor's office blamed the "enemies of peace and country," a term often used by Afghan officials to describe Taliban militants.
It was the third time in two weeks that a senior tribal leader was targeted by assassins.