A 12-year-old boy hailed as a hero for defending his village from the Taliban was shot dead in what appeared to be a targeted assassination by the group, Afghan officials said Wednesday, NBC News reported.
Wasil Ahmad was honored at a public ceremony for playing a key role in defending the community of Dan Sango, in the southern province of Khas Uruzgan, during a 2-month-long Taliban siege last year.
Ahmad was shot twice in the head and chest as he bought groceries from a local shop in the provincial capital of Terin Kot.
He was airlifted to Kandahar where he was pronounced dead, according to provincial police chief Gen. Ghulam Sakhi Roghlewanai who said the shooting appeared to be targeted.
