Kabul suicide blast kills 8 ahead of key vote

A SUICIDE car bomber killed at least eight people in the Afghan capital yesterday and a Taliban rocket hit the presidential palace grounds as violence surged across the country ahead of tomorrow’s cliffhanger election.

Security officials said 55 were wounded by the suicide bomber, who rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the convoy on the notorious Jalalabad road.

A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan said foreign troops were among the dead and wounded, without elaborating. The UN mission in Kabul said two of its Afghan staff members were also among the dead.