KABUL – The number of people killed when a bomb went off at an electionrally in northeastern Afghanistan has climbed to at least 22, officialssaid on Saturday.
The explosion happened in Takhar province where scores of people hadgathered to listen to a speech by a woman standing as a candidate in theparliamentary polls on Oct.
20.Jawad Hejri, spokesman for Takhar governor, said at least 22 people diedand 36 were wounded in the attack, in Rustaq district.
Explosives had been placed on a motorcycle near the rally, which was tohave been addressed by the candidate, Nazifa Yousufi Bek.
The victims included security officials and civilians, a local policeofficial said, adding that the candidate was not at the rally at the time.
No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
It is the third attack against the election campaign process this month.
Bek is one of 417 women contesting seats across the country, more than everbefore.
Candidates, regardless of gender, are braving violence and opposition fromsocial conservatives in a campaign seen as a test of the war-torn nation´sdemocratic institutions.
Seven candidates, all men, have been killed in separate attacks so far.
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Another two have been abducted, and four others have been wounded byhardline Islamist militants, election officials said.
Takhar, a province bordering Tajikistan, has long been a hotbed of theTaliban insurgency.
The Taliban have told Afghans to boycott the upcoming polls.
In the western province of Herat, gunmen attacked the election campaignoffice of a candidate, killing a security guard and a child, said JailaniFarhad, a spokesman for the Herat governor.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks in a statement, saying thatthe enemies of Afghans cannot weaken the will of the nation.
US ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass condemned the violence, and calledon the Taliban to do the same.
“If the group (the Taliban) is serious about the peace process it will dothe same and punish those responsible,” he said in a tweet. – APP/AFP
