Taliban guerrillas attacked government buildings south of the capital Kabul today, it was reported, in the latest in a series of brazen assaults in a growing insurgency.
A Taliban spokesman said six fighters wearing vests packed with explosives had attacked key buildings in Logar province, about an hour's drive from Kabul.
Their targets included the governor's office, police and election offices, he told Reuters.
A media officer for US and Nato-led troops, said she understood there had been a "vehicle-borne" bomb attack on the governor's office and another attack on police.
Private Afghan television station Tolo said Afghan security forces had been locked in gun battles with insurgents for several hours and that Taliban fighters had also used "heavy fire".
The attacks came less than two weeks before presidential and provincial council elections on August 20th and were the latest episode in a dramatic escalation of pre-poll violence.
Today's attack resembled similarly brazen assaults on the eastern cities of Khost and Gardez last month, when suicide bombers, some dressed as women, and gunmen attacked government buildings.
Attacks across Afghanistan have escalated since US Marines and British soldiers launched offensives in the southern province of Helmand, long a Taliban stronghold, in the past two months.
The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the election and have called on Afghans to boycott the vote.
Reuters