Continued violence and conflicts have claimed the lives of a district chief and a Taliban local commander in Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

Militants riding a motor bike shot dead Abdul Rahim Disiwal, the chief of Andar district in Ghazni province of southeastern Afghanistan, Monday morning, spokesman of provincial administration Ismael Jihangir said.

The late Disiwal, according to Jihangir was on his way to office when the rebels opened fire killing on the spot.

In another development, Afghan security forces raided the hideout of a Taliban commander named Ghazi in Sarobi district 60 km east of capital city Kabul and eliminated him.

"Security forces stormed Ghazi's hiding place late Saturday night and killed him along some of his armed men," police chief of Sarobi district Abdul Jamil Shamal said.

Taliban insurgents have yet to make comment.

Spiraling conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency have claimed around 5,000 people with some 2,000 civilians so far this year in strife-torn Afghanistan while Taliban insurgents have vowed to intensify assaults against interests of Afghan government and international troops before the coming winter.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2008)