Kabul, June 3 (IANS) Unidentified gunmen shot dead a top religious scholar in Afghanistan's Herat city on Thursday, a top official said.

Abdul Khaleq Haqqani, head of Haj and Religious affairs of Herat province, said gunmen opened fire on Mawlawi Mohammad Kababyiani, the deputy of the religious council in the western region of the country, killing him on the spot, reports Xinhua news agency.

Kababyiani was a moderate religious scholar and had often condemned the ongoing war and militancy in Afghanistan.

--IANS ksk/