Death toll in Afghan election rally attack rises to 22

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KABUL, Oct 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The death toll in a bomb attack on an
Afghan election rally has risen to at least 22 people, officials said Sunday,
as the country braces for more violence ahead of the October 20 poll.

Dozens of people were killed or wounded in parliamentary election-related
attacks across Afghanistan on Saturday as militants step up attacks on the
ballot.

A motorcycle carrying explosives detonated among supporters of Nazifa
Yousefibek, a female candidate for the northeastern province of Takhar,
provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Jawad Hejri told AFP.

Most of the 22 killed and 36 wounded were civilians, he said.

Provincial health director Hafizullah Safi put the death toll slightly
higher at 23.

In the western province of Herat, two gunmen attacked the campaign office
of a candidate in Injeel district, killing two people, provincial governor
spokesman Jailani Farhad said.

A nine-year-old boy and a security guard died in the attack and two others
were wounded.

Violence related to the long-delayed legislative vote has killed or wounded
hundreds of people in recent months. At least nine candidates have died so
far, most of them in targeted killings, according to the Independent Election
Commission.