KABUL, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Doctor Hanif, anonym of a former Taliban spokesman for eastern Afghanistan, was killed by unknown gunmen Thursday night in Nangarhar province, said an official on Friday.

    Sayed Mohammad Pahlawan, district chief of Chaparhar, told Xinhua that "a group of gunmen shot and killed Doctor Hanif along with two other members of his family in the district late last night."

    Pahlawan said the investigation is going on and it is not clear that if the former spokesman was killed by Taliban or other private hatred.

    Doctor Hanif has just released recently from jail in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar.

    No group or individuals have yet to claim responsibility for the killing. Taliban militants often committed brutal "punishment" towards government employees and even former Taliban fighters whom they think as spy and traitor of the extreme movement.