Taliban Threatens Attacks During Afghanistan's Presidential Election Run-Off

Taliban Threatens Attacks During Afghanistan's Presidential Election Run-Off

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 2 (UPI) — A NATO soldier was among at least six people killed in separate attacks on Monday in Afghanistan.

The soldier, who was not identified, was killed during an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan. He was a member of the U.S.-led international coalition that includes NATO forces.

Three Turkish civil engineers and at least two Afghan police officers also died.

A suicide bomber used his bomb-laden motorcycle to attack the engineers’ car in eastern Nangahar province, the interior ministry reported. A fourth engineer was injured in the attack, along with an Afghan. The Turkish engineers were in Afghanistan to help construct an Afghan police base.

Two policemen were killed when insurgents raided a police district headquarters in southern Helmand province.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi issued a statement Monday threatening more attacks are imminent as Afghanistan prepares for the presidential election run-off on June 14.

Monday’s attack follows President Barack Obama’s announcement a week earlier that 9,800 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014, contingent upon Afghanistan’s new leadership signing the bilateral security agreement with the U.S.

Afghanistan’s two leading presidential candidates — former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani — have expressed support for signing the BSA.

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