Taliban militias who failed to derail the landmark Sept. 18 legislative polls have intensified their attacks in the post-election nation as in the latest spate of violence they targeted a Kabul military training center killing nine persons on the spot Wednesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi confirmed Thursday.

In the dreadful attack which is the first in the heavily guarded capital city since holding the elections, 36 others including officers and soldiers were injured.

Mufti Abdul Latif Hakimi who claimed to be the spokesman for the militants has accepted responsibility for the bloody attack, and said from undisclosed location that the insurgents would continue their Jihad or holy war until the US-dominated foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

The gruesome attack, which coincided with a similar blast in eastern Kunar province on the same day, left two policemen killed and five others including a UN worker from Bangladesh wounded.

Over two dozen people including seven American soldiers and a parliamentary candidate have been killed in Taliban-led militancy since the holding of the landmark elections two weeks ago, while over 40 others were injured.

Taliban's chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, who termed the election a ploy to "legitimize the US occupation of Afghanistan," had called upon Afghans to boycott it but over 50 percent of Afghan people eligible to vote defied the warning and used their franchise amid tight security.

Remnants of the former fundamentalist regime in their anti-poll drive gunned down Mohammad Asharf Ramazan, a candidate in northern province of Balkh on Tuesday, and brought the number of candidates killed over the past two months to eight.

In a surprise attack the militia also shot down a US army helicopter in the restive Zabul province on Sunday and killed five aboard, but the US military termed the claim a moral boosting and rejected it.

In his reaction to the balloting, Taliban's spokesman Latif Hakimi clearly announced that the militants would continue their battle even beyond the election.

The militancy is spiraling amid the ongoing government-launched national reconciliation policy and President Hamid Karzai's call for change of strategy in war on terror and avoiding air strike in the operations.

Afghan president on the day after holding the landmark elections called upon the US-led coalition leadership to pay much attention to terrorists shelter and their financial resources.

He also said that he did not feel much need to use air force in war on terror, as he believed the terrorists had been defeated in Afghanistan.

Meantime, the Commander-In-Chief of US troops in Afghanistan, General Ekin Berry, foresaw more Taliban attacks in the coming weeks. In talks with a section of the local press early this month, he said the militants would launch more attacks ahead of winter.

Backing the prediction, spokesman of the US-led military here James Yonts acknowledged Monday that the militancy was far from over.

However, he stressed that the militants had suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Afghans and coalition troops. And according to him, that was why the militants have changed their military tactics and begun recruiting young fighters.

"What we are seeing is a change in tactics. They no longer have that pool of resources that they can mount a serious attack against us," Yonts told journalists at his first post-election press conference Monday.

The US army spokesman added that the militants nowadays are resorting to roadside bombs, attacking soft targets like civilians and police posts. "You can see a hit-and-run approach instead of major combat operations," the spokesman emphasized.

In the meantime, Taliban's spokesman rejected the claim and said the militias were much better organized and better equipped than the past.

According to official sources, over 1,200 people, mostly militants, have been killed in Taliban-led insurgency since the beginning of this year.

Source: Xinhua