Deadly Bombing Rocks Afghan Election Rally
The deadly blast in Kama district in Nangarhar province went off inside the campaign office of a candidate for the October 20 parliamentary elections. The fate of the candidate, identified as Nasir Mohmand, was not known immediately.
Provincial government spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, told VOA the casualties were expected to rise.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the bombing in an Afghan province where both Taliban insurgents and Islamic State militants are active.
The Taliban has denounced the elections, though IS has taken responsibility for most of the recent bombings and other attacks against civilians in Nangahrar.
Afghans are set to head to the polls October 20 to cast ballots in elections for the lower house of parliament, or Wolesi Jirga, and district councils amid prevailing security concerns. The polls are being held after a delay of more than three years.
Tuesday's violence comes as an Afghan watchdog has blamed counterinsurgency air-and-ground operations by pro-government forces for causing most of the 262 civilian deaths across the country in September.
Another 524 people were wounded in war-related violence and women as well as children were among the 785 casualties, according to the non-governmental Civilian Protection Advocacy Group (CPAG).
Separately, officials told VOA on Tuesday that the Afghan military during a counter-Taliban operations mistakenly bombed one of its own bases in the southern Helmand province. The incident in the Nad Ali district killed six Afghan soldiers and wounded eight others.
The provincial police said an investigation was underway into the deadly attack.