38 die as Afghanistan goes to polls

[struggle4progress]

Associated Press

KABUL/Kandahar, Oct. 9. — Gun battles, mine blasts and US air strikes on the day of Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban election left 38 people dead today, Afghan officials said, including three police officers escorting freshly filled ballot boxes.

The three died in Uruzgan province, a Taliban stronghold where US forces earlier fought militants in a battle which reportedly left 25 rebels and one civilian dead. In neighbouring Kandahar province, eight more police died when their vehicle hit a mine, another mine killed an Afghan soldier, and security forces arrested two men carrying a hand grenade. <snip>

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