Taliban warn teachers and students to avoid polls in Afghanistan

A bomb attack killed an Afghan parliamentary candidate on Wednesday, as the Taliban warned teachers and students not to participate in the upcoming elections and to not allow schools to be used as voting centers.

The insurgents said in their statement that they would target the October 20 national elections, which they consider illegitimate, but that they do not want to hurt civilians.

A bomb exploded Wednesday in the campaign office of Abdul Jabar Qahraman, a candidate in the southern province of Helmand, who was killed and seven others wounded, said Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Zwak said the explosive device appeared to have been hidden in a couch. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for bombing the office of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. A series of recent attacks killed six other candidates, before and after the official start of the campaign. Two candidates were kidnapped and three others injured by the violence.

The Taliban are opposed to democratic elections, viewing them as an imposition by foreign powers. The group has been fighting Afghan and NATO forces for over 17 years in hopes of restoring its image of a severe Islamic regime.

In recent years, the Taliban has carried out almost daily attacks, targeting mainly the Afghan government and the security forces. Activists took control of several districts across the country.

The Taliban attacked Wednesday at checkpoints in the northern province of Baghlan, killing six people and injuring two in a four-hour battle, provincial police chief Ekramuddin Sarih said. He says that a dozen insurgents have been killed. The Taliban did not comment immediately.