Taliban launches attacks as election race kicks off

AFGHAN security forces clashed with dozens of Taliban militiamen yesterday as campaigning for the nation’s first direct presidential election opened in a crucial step in the war-ravaged nation’s troubled transition to democracy.

One soldier and four rebel fighters were killed.

Elsewhere, two other Taliban fighters were killed and two captured in a separate clash with US troops and Afghan government forces in another part of southern Zabul province.

Zabul is a rugged region where Taliban militants often attack Afghan security forces, foreign aid workers and US troops.

In the bloodiest clash, about 60 Taliban fighters came down from nearby mountains and stormed the chief administrator’s office in Naubahar district last night.

Both sides used AK-47 rifles and heavy machine guns and fought for about two hours before the attackers retreated to the hills.

Interim leader Hamid Karzai and his 17 challengers have 30 days to lobby 10.6 million Afghans registered to vote.

Key issues will be the snail’s pace of reconstruction, enduring poverty and fragile security.

The outcome could be pivotal for a country still awash with guns, riven by ethnic animosities and stuck in poverty.

Mr Karzai is considered the favourite to become the first popularly-elected head of state.

But the bewildering field of candidates and the tribal loyalties could split the vote so widely that the incumbent is forced into a runoff.