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Insurgent Attacks Rock Afghanistan Ahead of Presidential Election


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.

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