KABUL: The death toll in a bomb attack on an Afghan election rally has risen to at least 22 people, officials said Sunday, as the country braces for more violence ahead of the October 20 poll.
Dozens of people were killed or wounded in parliamentary election-related attacks across Afghanistan on Saturday as militants step up attacks on the ballot.
A motorcycle carrying explosives detonated among supporters of Nazifa Yousefibek, a female candidate for the northeastern province of Takhar, provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Jawad Hejri told AFP.
Most of the 22 killed and 36 wounded were civilians, he said.
Provincial health director Hafizullah Safi put the death toll slightly higher at 23.
In the western province of Herat, two gunmen attacked the campaign office of a candidate in Injeel district, killing two people, provincial governor spokesman Jailani Farhad said.
A nine-year-old boy and a security guard died in the attack and two others were wounded.
Violence related to the long-delayed legislative vote has killed or wounded hundreds of people in recent months.
At least nine candidates have died so far, most of them in targeted killings, according to the Independent Election Commission.
Death toll in Afghan election rally attack rises to 22
Death toll in Afghan election rally attack rises to 22
- Most of the 22 killed and 36 wounded were civilians
- At least nine candidates have died so far, most of them in targeted killings
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Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region
- Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant
TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 hit the western Chugoku region of Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
The epicenter of the first earthquake was in eastern Shimane prefecture, the agency said, adding that there was no danger of a tsunami. Chugoku Electric Power operates the Shimane Nuclear Power Station, about 32 km (20 miles) away.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant.
A spokesperson said the utility was checking on any impact on the plant’s No.2 unit, which has been operating since December 2024 after being shut down following the March 2011 disasters in Fukushima.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas.
The earthquake had a seismic intensity of upper-5 on Japan’s 1-7 scale, strong enough to make movement difficult without support.
West Japan Railway said it had suspended Shinkansen bullet-train operations between Shin-Osaka and Hakata following the quake.
