950+ Reported Killed in Political Violence in Afghanistan this year

[shockingelk]

Full headline is "More Than 950 Reported Killed in Political Violence in Afghanistan This Year Ahead of Landmark Vote"

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - The killing in Afghanistan spirals onward, undermining U.S. claims of success in pacifying the country with less than a week to go before an historic experiment with democracy - direct presidential elections.

With Afghanistan three years removed from the brutality of Taliban rule, President Bush has acclaimed the Oct. 9 presidential vote a beacon of hope for the Islamic world ... But the tally of dead in Afghanistan - a haven of tranquility compared with Iraq - is an indicator of the task facing both the U.S. military and whomever becomes Afghanistan's first directly elected president - most likely the American-backed incumbent, Hamid Karzai - to consolidate a shaky peace.

... Western intelligence reports seen by AP warn of militants slipping over the border from Pakistan to attack the United Nations and polling stations in and around towns like Kandahar, the former Taliban capital.

Some also talk of possible car-bomb attacks, others of attempts to hide explosive charges in fruit carts - a tactic already used to tragic effect with the slaying of 14 children in Kandahar in January. The Taliban claimed it was planning to target passing American patrols.

more ... http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBUTUZFVZD.html