Governor who criticized Karzai is fired

Afghanistan’s government fired a provincial governor days after he said that Afghans are distancing themselves from President Hamid Karzai and that a “vacuum of authority” is allowing the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other groups to gain power.

Abdul Sattar Murad, governor of Kapisa province, was fired because “he sowed discord” and provided U.S.-led coalition troops with wrong information about the people of the province, said a statement from the Interior Ministry, which appoints the country’s 34 governors.

The government said the decision to fire Murad was made before his comments were published, but Murad disagreed.