Afghan presidential candidate survives bombing attack
Afghan policemen investigate the site of a suicide attack in Kabul June 6, 2014. Photo - ReutersAfghan presidential election frontrunner Abdullah Abdullah escaped an assassination attempt when an explosion hit his campaign motorcade in Kabul, just days ahead of a hotly-contested run-off election.
Friday\’s explosions killed four civilians but left the candidate himself unharmed.
In a televised statement shortly after the attack, Abdullah said he had not been hurt but that his security guards had been wounded.
"Thank God, we have not suffered any injuries.," Abdullah told national television. "However, regrettably, a number of security guards were wounded.
"Thank God, they are not in serious condition."
The attack took place as Abdullah was leaving an election gathering in a wedding hall.
The interior ministry spokesman said the number of dead was likely to rise, the Associated Press news agency reported.
The assassination attempt on Abdullah came ahead of a second-round presidential election on June 14, which Taliban fighters have threatened to disrupt.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
Afghanistan is in the middle of elections to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has ruled since the fall of the country\’s Taliban government in 2001.
Abdullah fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed for an outright victory in the April first round and will face former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani in the run-off.
"We condemn the attack on respected presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah," Ghani said on Twitter, the AFP news agency reported.
The run-off round of the presidential election takes place next week.
Source – Agencies
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