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October 22, 2018

Afghanistan: 27 Killed, 100 Injured as Voters Head to Polls
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In Afghanistan, voters turned out in large numbers to vote in the
country's parliamentary elections over the weekend amid violence and
deadly attacks. An Afghan official said that 27 people were killed and
100 wounded across the country on Election Day, including at least 18
people killed by a suicide bomber Saturday as they waited to cast
ballots.

This comes days after the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack
that killed top Afghan General Abdul Raziq in the southern province of
Kandahar, prompting a week's delay for voting in the region. The
Pentagon said Sunday U.S. Army General Jeffrey Smiley was shot and
wounded in that attack. The top U.S. general in Afghanistan, Scott
Miller, was also a target of the attack but survived uninjured. The
elections, which were postponed three times due to security concerns,
saw a record number of women and young people running for the 250
parliamentary seats. Preliminary results are expected in November.


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