KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban suicide bomber struck
a bus carrying Afghan military personnel in Kabul Wednesday, killing at
least 11 people, officials said, as the militants step up their
campaign of violence aimed at undermining the Western-backed government.
The
bombing came as the country struggles through its first democratic
transition of power, with electoral officials announcing Wednesday that
the release of initial election results has been postponed until next
week due to allegations of fraud.
The blast tore through the green
bus blowing out the windows and leaving the interior spattered with
blood. Afghan soldiers cordoned off the scene as the bus was lifted by a
crane to be carried away. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad
Zahir Azimi said eight members of the army were killed and 13 wounded in
the blast. Three civilians also were killed, according to Kabul’s
criminal investigation chief Gul Agha Hashim.
Army Gen. Kadamshah
Shahim said the bomber was stopped before he could enter the bus,
preventing a higher casualty toll. The Taliban claimed responsibility
for the attack via spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Preliminary
results from a June 14 runoff vote between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf
Ghani Ahmadzai had been due on Wednesday. But the Independent Election
Commission said they were being postponed until Monday so ballots from
1,930 polling stations in 30 provinces could be audited because of
complaints about irregularities.
Abdullah won the first round of
voting on April 5 by a large margin, but he says his campaign monitors
recorded widespread ballot box stuffing and other efforts to rig the
vote in favor of his rival. He suspended relations with electoral
authorities and said he would boycott results if they were announced
before his complaints were resolved.
IEC chairman Ahmad Yousuf
Nouristani expressed confidence the five-day delay would be sufficient
time to ensure the transparency of the process. "We are under no
pressure," he said.
The winner will replace President Hamid
Karzai, the only leader the country has known since the 2001 U.S.-led
invasion that ousted the Taliban. He was constitutionally barred from
seeking a third term.
Western officials had hoped for a smooth
transfer of power ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. and allied combat
troops by the end of this year. Both candidates have promised to sign a
security pact with the Obama administration that would allow nearly
10,000 American forces to remain in the country in a training capacity
and to conduct counterterrorism operations. A disruption in the
announcement of election results could mean another delay in finalizing
that agreement, which was rebuffed by Karzai.
According to the
official timetable, final results are due on July 22, with the
inauguration date for the new president scheduled for Aug. 2.
The
election commission acknowledged further delays were possible but said
in a statement that it "is committed to separating valid from invalid
votes and preserving the integrity of the electoral process."
Ahmadzai,
a former finance minister and World Bank official, said his team would
accept the commission’s decision although he was critical of the delay.
"The
commission had time to undertake all these audits during the stipulated
time. That question need to be asked of the commission as to why they
did not utilize the time because they changed their mind repeatedly as
to what kind of audit, with what scale and over what period," he told
reporters.
"Our team wants to set an example in terms of
compliance with rules and regulations," he said. "What we are keen upon
and we’ve been assured that the schedule of announcing final results and
transfer of authority from President Karzai to his elected successor
… will not change. That is the fundamental."
A member of Abdullah’s campaign, Baryalai Arsalai, welcomed the delay in the announcement of preliminary
results.
The
U.N. mission in Afghanistan, meanwhile, said it had facilitated
separate meetings between Abdullah, Ahmadzai and their running mates
with ambassadors and other representatives of the international
community Tuesday to discuss election-related issues and the way
forward.
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Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.