An Afghan vice-president survived an assassination attempt on Monday in the north and two soldiers from US-led forces were killed in a gunbattle in the south-east, as violence escalated ahead of an October 9 election.
Nematuallah Shahrani was travelling in convoy with other members of President Hamid Karzai's cabinet when a remote-controlled device was detonated near his car in the province of Kunduz, said governor Mohammad Omar Khan.
"One driver of one of the cars was slightly hurt in this incident," Khan told Reuters. Authorities have arrested up to 15 local people on suspicion of being behind the blast, which Khan blamed on followers of the al Qaeda network.
The attack came just four days after Karzai, widely expected to win the election yet hated by militants for his close alliance with the United States, had to abandon a trip to Gardez city when a rocket was fired at his US military helicopter.
Hundreds of kilometres to the south of Kunduz, two soldiers from the 17,000-strong US-led force hunting al Qaeda and Taleban militants were killed in a gunbattle.
The clash occurred in the province of Paktika, a traditional heartland for Islamic guerrillas bent on disrupting what will be the country's first ever direct presidential vote.
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