Insurgents staged a series of attacks in Afghanistan
Tuesday, killing at least 16 people, just two days before presidential and
provincial elections.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that targeted a
NATO supply convoy driving on a main road on the outskirts of the capital,
Kabul. The attack killed two Afghan U.N. staffers, one member of NATO-led
forces and at least five Afghan civilians.
Hours earlier, rockets hit near the presidential palace in the capital but
caused no casualties. Elsewhere in southern Uruzgan province, a suicide car
bomber attacked a polling station, killing four soldiers and two civilians.
And in the east, the U.S. military in Afghanistan said two U.S. soldiers died
after their vehicle hit a bomb.
The Taliban has stepped up attacks as part of its pledge to disrupt Thursday's
vote. Late Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry asked Afghan and foreign media to
avoid reporting violent incidents on election day to encourage voters to cast
their ballots on Thursday.
Despite the rise in violence, NATO Brigadier General Damaian Cantwell says he
is confident the ISAF mission and the Afghan police and army are well prepared
to provide security for voters.