Arsallah Jamal, the Governor of Afghanistan's restive eastern province of Logar, was killed in a bomb attack on Tuesday.
He was addressing worshipers gathered at the main mosque in the provincial capital Pul-i-Alam during the morning prayers marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha when a bomb apparently planted inside the microphone went off.
A close ally of President Hamid Karzai, the 47-year-old expert in rural development was in charge of his presidential election campaign in 2009.
Karzai first appointed Jamal as Governor of Khost province, and shifted him to another eastern province of Logar in April after the latter's return from Canada.
The high-profile Afghan government mid-level-leader had long been a terrorist target, and escaped assassination attempts several times.
At least 15 people were injured, in the attack, some of them critically, news agencies reported quoting police.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that occurred in the Taliban stronghold.
Despite NATO claims that security situation in the country is improving ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of its forces in December 2014, insecurity threatens the southern fringes of capital Kabul, forcing people to flee.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com