Two men riding a bicycle shot and killed Mohammad Amanullah, head of the Independent Election Commission in Kunduz, Afghanistan on Wednesday. Following the incident, Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban, sent out this tweet:

The New York Times provides a translation:

“At 9 a.m. this morning, Engineer Mohammad Aman head of Kunduz Independent Election Commission was killed by our Mujahedeen in Takharistan area of Kunduz city.”

This is the first "official" instance of the Taliban using Twitter to claim responsibility for a killing and there is speculation that the group is trying to disrupt elections “more vigorously than they have in the past.”

President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, condemned the killing:

“An inclusive election will be held in this country, and the enemy’s plots against that will fail, and nothing will remain to the Taliban except denigration and disgrace.”

Before the announcement was made via Twitter Wednesday morning, the @zabihmujahid account had 1400 followers. As of Wednesday evening, it now has 1535 followers, many of whom are American journalists.

[Image via AP]