Eight killed in Afghan suicide attack

KANDAHAR: An election candidate was among eight killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said, days ahead of a parliamentary vote that militants have vowed to disrupt. Another 11 people were wounded when the attacker blew himself up inside Saleh Mohammad Asikzai´s campaign office in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, Helmand provincial governor spokesman Omar Zhwak told AFP.

Asikzai, a young first-time candidate, was campaigning on a platform of “positive change”. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Helmand has long been a stronghold for the Taliban, which was toppled from power in a US-led invasion in 2001.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said Afghans who believed in democracy would not allow “terrorists” to stop the elections. It is not clear how many people were inside the room at the time of the blast, which comes a day after the Taliban warned candidates to pull out of the “bogus” election scheduled for October 20.