JALALABAD – At least 13 people were killed in a suicide attack on an Afghanelection campaign rally on Tuesday, an official said, in the latestviolence ahead of this month’s legislative vote.
The attack is the first suicide assault since campaigning officially kickedoff last Friday for the parliamentary elections, preparations for whichhave already been marred by bloody violence.
More than 30 people were wounded when the militant blew himself up amongsupporters of candidate Abdul Nasir Mohmmand in the Kama district of theeastern province of Nangarhar, provincial governor spokesman AtaullahKhogyani said.
Some of the wounded were in a critical condition, Khogyani added.
Provincial health director Najibullah Kamawal said 55 people, including 13bodies, had been taken to hospitals so far.
An AFP reporter saw numerous ambulances delivering bodies and woundedpeople to a hospital in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.
Sayed Humayun, who had brought his injured cousin to the medical facility,said scores of people had been inside a hall listening to Mohmmand speakwhen the bomber struck.
“I heard a big explosion,” Humayun told AFP.
“For a while I could not see, I thought I was blinded, but later I saw Iwas surrounded by bodies and people covered in blood.”
Violence has plagued the run-up to Afghanistan’s long-delayed parliamentaryvote, which is scheduled for October 20.
Five candidates have been murdered in targeted killings, according to theIndependent Election Commission, and there are fears violence will escalate.
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There were also numerous attacks on voter registration centres, including asuicide blast at a centre in Kabul that killed dozens.
More than 2,500 candidates will contest the ballot, which is seen as a testrun for next year’s presidential election.
But preparations for the vote have been in turmoil for months.
Bureaucratic inefficiency, allegations of industrial-scale fraud and aneleventh-hour pledge for biometric verification of voters threaten toderail the election and any hope of a credible result.
The international community is pushing hard for the vote to happen beforeNovember’s ministerial meeting in Geneva, which the United Nations says isa “crucial moment” for the Afghan government and its foreign partners todemonstrate progress.
Some 54,000 members of Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces will beresponsible for protecting more than 5,000 polling centres on election day.
More than 2,000 polling centres that were supposed to open will be closedfor security reasons.
It is a daunting task as the Taliban and the Islamic State group, whichhave vowed to disrupt the ballot, ramp up attacks across the country. -APP/AFP
