Taliban bomb attack kills 8 election officials in Afghanistan

Afghan officials say Taliban insurgents have killed eight people in a bomb attack targeting election officials in southern Kandahar province.

Aziz Ibrahimi, a spokesman for the Independent Election Commission, said Sunday that the employees were in the district of Maruf conducting voter registration, when Saturday night’s attack occurred.

A defence ministry’s deputy spokesman, Fawad Aman, says Taliban detonated four stolen Humvees full of explosives outside the district’s police headquarter, where the election officials were staying.

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WATCH: Attack on police headquarters in Afghanistan by Taliban leaves 13 dead

0:52 Attack on police headquarters in Afghanistan by Taliban leaves 13 dead

The defence ministry did not immediately say whether security forces were also wounded or killed in the explosions.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban are currently holding peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar, over ending the country’s long-running war.