An explosion targeting Afghanistan’s energy minister outside a girls school killed four civilians in the country’s far west, police said. A Taliban official claimed responsibility for the blast yesterday morning.
Taliban assassination attempts against officials have intensified this year, with more than 100 officials and pro-government tribal elders attacked — half of them fatally.
The convoy carrying Afghan Energy Minister Ismail Khan, a power broker in the western region of Herat, was headed to the airport when the bomb exploded outside the high school, said Raouf Ahmadi, a police spokesman. Ahmadi said four civilians died and 17 people were wounded, including four of Khan’s bodyguards.
PHOTO: EPA
He said Khan escaped unharmed and arrived safely at the airport.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for what he said was a car bomb targeting Khan, who was once governor of Herat, a western province bordering Iran. He said Khan was among the dead, though Mujahid’s claims often turn out to be false.
The Taliban assassination campaign is a strong sign of deteriorating security in the country, where a record number of US and NATO troops have also died this year. The Obama administration is now debating whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan as its government faces allegations of widespread fraud from the disputed Aug. 20 presidential election.
Afghanistan’s election organizers on Saturday released preliminary results for 30 of the country’s 34 provinces, more than a month after nationwide voting.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said turnout was 37.8 percent, slightly higher than the 37.7 percent who took part in the presidential poll.
A total of 3,339 candidates contested 420 seats. Results announced Saturday show that 251 men and 106 women were elected.
A quarter of the provincial council seats were reserved for women.
At least four candidates were killed during the campaign.
“These results are preliminary and may change based on ECC [Electoral Complaints Commission] decisions,” an IEC statement said.
“The IEC will announce the final results as soon as they have received and implemented the final decisions of the ECC,” it said.
The statement added that results from the remaining four provinces would be announced “soon.”
The polls have been mired in controversy, with complaints of irregularities.
The ECC is investigating thousands of fraud claims in the presidential election, only the second in Afghanistan’s turbulent history.
Preliminary results from the presidential poll show incumbent Hamid Karzai leading with 54.6 percent of the vote, against 27.8 percent for his main rival, former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
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