Gunmen kill provincial Afghan election chief

KUNDUZ: Taliban assassins riding motorbikes gunned down a senior election official in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, raising fears the presidential vote due in April will trigger a surge in violence.

Amanullah Aman, the head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Kunduz province, was killed by two gunmen outside his home in Kunduz city as he left for work.

He was the first election official to be murdered since candidate nominations opened on Monday. All potential runners in the wide-open race to succeed President Hamid Karzai must declare themselves by October 6.

"Aman was shot dead in the morning in front of his house as he was leaving for his office," Kunduz provincial spokesman Enayatullah Khaliq told AFP.

"Two men on motorcycles opened fire on his car and severely wounded him, he later died in the hospital."

Deputy police chief Ebadullah Talwar said that Aman was murdered after going grocery shopping and was not accompanied by any bodyguards. Talwar added that five arrests had already been made, but gave no further details. (AFP)