Taliban attack kills 8 election officials in Afghanistan

Afghan officials say Taliban insurgents have killed eight people in a bomb attack targeting election officials in southern Kandahar province.

Afghan officials say Taliban insurgents have killed eight people in a bomb attack targeting election officials in southern Kandahar province.

The defence ministry did not immediately say whether security forces were also wounded or killed in the explosions (File photo for representation)

Aziz Ibrahimi, a spokesman for the Independent Election Commission, said Sunday that the employees were in the district of Maruf conducting voter registration, when Saturday night’s attack occurred.

A defence ministry’s deputy spokesman, Fawad Aman, says Taliban detonated four stolen Humvees full of explosives outside the district’s police headquarter, where the election officials were staying.

The defence ministry did not immediately say whether security forces were also wounded or killed in the explosions.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban are currently holding peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar, over ending the country’s long-running war.