KABUL – Gunfire and explosions reverberated through the heart of the Afghan capital Wednesday on the eve of the presidential election after three militants with AK-47s rifles and hand grenades overran a bank.Police stormed the building and killed the three insurgents, officials said.
The three-man attack came a day after militants fired rockets at the presidential palace and follows a suicide car bomb explosion in front of NATO's Kabul headquarters Saturday that killed seven, a drumbeat of attacks that would appear to signal the intent of Taliban insurgents and their militant allies to disrupt Thursday's vote.
President Hamid Karzai faces some three dozen presidential candidates at the polls, including his former foreign minister and top challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The Islamistinsurgents have threatened those who take part in the election — a crucial step in President Barack Obama's campaign to turn around the deteriorating war.
In a sign of how difficult election preparation have been, Afghanistan's chief electoral officer said that 20 percent of election materials hadn't yet been delivered to voting sites less than 24 hours before polls open at 7 a.m. Thursday. Daoud Ali Najafi said Afghan army helicopters would be used to deliver the materials to insecure and difficult-to-reach regions.
The Interior Ministry has said that about a third of Afghanistan is at high risk of militant attack. No polling stations will open in eight Afghan districts under control of militants. Preliminary results of the presidential election should be announced sometime Saturday evening, he said.
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