Leader in Afghan north dismisses Kabul government as a 'show'

Governor of Mazar-i-Sharif Atta Mohammad Noor speaks during an interview in Mazar-i-Sharif May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Anil Usyan

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Atta Mohammad Noor, a powerful governor in northern Afghanistan, visited a local amusement park last week and grabbed a video arcade gun. Firing on fictional aliens made a break from the frequent target of his ire: the government in Kabul.

Noor, a former general hardened in wars against the Soviets and Taliban but now suited and affluent, complains of a lack of leadership by President Ashraf Ghani and is angry his warnings of rising militant violence in the north were not heeded.