JALALABAD (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th December, 2019) The murder of renowned Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province had "political motives" and was linked to his dam construction projects on a common river with Pakistan, provincial governor Shahmahmood Miakhel told Sputnik.
Nakamura, the head of NGO Peace Japan Medical Services, as well as his four bodyguards and a driver, were fatally shot in an attack on the charity's vehicle in Nangarhar's capital of Jalalabad on December 4. The aid worker was widely known for his reconstruction efforts, including his irrigation projects that aimed to save the region from droughts. The news of his murder swiftly gave rise to speculation that Pakistan might have targeted Nakamura for his dam projects on the common river.
"Terrorist groups are always trying to spread fear in the area, sometimes by targeted killings of those who serve the region and the country to prevent them [from doing so], but there are political motives in Nakamura's death that he was working on the Kunar River and was facilitating the people there," Miakhel said.
The governor went on to say that the local authorities were doing their best to prevent terrorist attacks in the region, adding that they had recently detained a suicide attacker and a vehicle that contained about a tonne of explosives.
"So this is war, there will be targeted killings and terrorist incidents; Nakamura's murder will be neither the first nor the last, but the heavy groups and organized attacks have been prevented," he said.
Nangarhar is considered to be a key province since it was where the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia) established its stronghold after it first emerged in the country in 2014. In November, the Afghan authorities announced victory over the IS, reporting that hundreds of militants had either surrendered or fled the region.
