Afghanistan Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah survives bombing
The Afghan Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber and a roadside bomb have struck the convoy of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah as it left a campaign event in the capital Kabul. Friday’s explosions killed four civilians but left the candidate unharmed.
Abdullah Abdullah 2009 photo released by State Department, taken by Daniel Wilkinson
Abdullah said he had not been hurt but that his security guards had been wounded and the AP reports that the death toll is expected to rise.
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 officially 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.
Both candidates have stated they will sign the agreement set forth as part of the US troop withdrawl set for the next two years.
