Kabul warns aid workers

A bomb wounded a candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections as eight policemen, two militants and a civilian were killed in Afghanistan's bloody countdown to the polls, officials said yesterday.

Parliamentary candidate Habibullah Khan from the Garmser district of Helmand province, 600km south of Kabul, was severely wounded by a bomb placed at the door of his house early Sunday, said district police chief Deljan.

In Dishu district also in Helmand province, police chief Haji Amanullah was killed by the Taliban along with his son and three bodyguards in an ambush which left two militants dead.

In the southern province of Zabul four Afghan policemen were killed in two separate attacks.

Three officers guarding a convoy transporting goods to US bases were killed Saturday when it came under fire from Taliban insurgents.

The warning came after a string of kidnappings that left a British engineer and two Japanese teachers dead. Five Afghans, including a district governor and an election candidate, were also kidnapped last week. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed to have killed them, though the claim couldn't be independently confirmed.

Interior Ministry spokesman Latfullah Mashal said he was confident the Sept. 18 legislative elections would be successful even though "al-Qaeda and the Taliban will try their best to disrupt peace and stability."