2 explosions hit Afghan election compound, injuring 7

As many as seven people including two policemen were injured as two explosions occurred in and outside of an electoral office Thursday night in west Afghanistan, an official of UN-Afghan election commission said Friday.

"There was an explosion at Joint Electoral Management Body compound in Farah city at 8:00 p.m. yesterday and another explosion occurred outside the election compound twenty minutes later," the official told Xinhua without disclosing his name. "There were three international staff in the compound but all of them are safely evacuated after the first explosion," he added. "I believe the police have arrested six suspects in this connection," he noted.

The incident was the latest attack on the ongoing electoral process ahead of the October 9 presidential election in the post-Taliban Afghanistan.

Afghan authorities were not immediately available to comment on the subject.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the twin attacks but Afghan officials often put such attack on the remnants of the former Taliban regime whose elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar threatened to disrupt the upcoming general elections.

Twelve election workers have been killed and over 20 others injured since the inception of electoral process in last December.

Source: Xinhua