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Six Afghan police, two Taliban killed in pre-election attack
Six Afghan policemen and two suspected Taliban insurgents were killed after militants attacked a police post in the latest violence ahead of key elections next week, officials said. A gunbattle erupted after rebels loyal to the ousted Islamic regime attacked the post in Muqur, a district of Ghazni province in southern Afghanistan, Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told AFP on Thursday. "Six Afghan police and two Taliban were killed during an exchange of fire lasting more than an hour," Mashal said. One suspected militant was arrested alive, he added. The Taliban, who were driven from power by US-led forces in late 2001, have vowed to disrupt the country's first parliamentary polls for three decades on September 18. In a separate incident late Wednesday, armed men opened fire on a woman standing for the elections in eastern Afghanistan. She was not hurt but three of her supporters were wounded. Safia Siddiqi -- who speaks fluent English and has lived in Canada -- was campaigning in in Nangarhar province when she was attacked. Police did not identify the assailants. Also on Wednesday two suspected suicide bombers were killed as their explosives-packed car blew up in Grishk, a major town in the restive southern province of Helmand. More than 1,100 people have been killed this year in attacks blamed on the hardline rebels, including around 50 US soldiers.
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