At least 13 dead in suicide attack on Afghan election rally
Jalalabad (Afghanistan), Oct 2 : At least 13 people were killed and 30 others were wounded after a suicide bombing ripped through an election rally in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Tuesday, officials said.
The bombing occurred at parliamentary election candidate Abdul Nasir Mohmand's rally in Kama district of Jalalabad city, the Afghan media reported.
Mohmand was wounded after the explosion, Xinhua news agency reported citing an Afghan official.
Provincial government spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed the attack and said further details will be released after an ongoing investigation.
The electoral campaign for the October 20 Afghan parliamentary elections began last Friday across the country.
Around 2,691 candidates from 33 out of 34 provinces (excluding Ghazni) will run for the Parliament's 249 seats.
More than 50 people, including seven election candidates, have been killed in election-related attacks across the country this year.
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Political row in Bengal after 104-year-old man put under 'adjudication category' in electoral rolls
Kolkata (PTI): A 104-year-old man has complained of being listed in the "under adjudication" category in the final electoral rolls issued by the Election Commission following the SIR exercise in West Bengal on February 28, officials said on Wednesday.
Sheikh Ibrahim, a resident of Jamalpur gram panchayat in Purba Bardhaman district, said he has voted in every election since India’s first general polls after Independence and had never faced such an experience.
"Is it a crime to live beyond 100 years? I have always believed in casting votes and exercising my democratic rights. Why can't I vote this time? This is my country," he said.
His 70-year-old son said that after his father was called for a hearing at camps "due to some logical discrepancies as claimed by the EC," EC officials later visited their residence, and all necessary documents were submitted.
"The EC official who conducted the hearing expressed satisfaction and assured his name will be in the rolls. However, after the final rolls were published, we found his name listed ‘under adjudication category.’ We fail to comprehend why," his son said.
Flagging the matter, the TMC alleged on X that "104-year-old Sheikh Ibrahim, who was born in pre-Independent India and has voted in every election since the first general elections, was summoned for a hearing and subjected to harassment after being included in the ‘under adjudication’ list."
"Can you imagine the extent of harassment he has faced? How much lower will the Commission stoop?" the party asked.
"Do they think they can gift Bengal to the BJP by deleting names of valid voters even before the elections? It is not that easy. Bengal knows how to respond, and it knows how to fight," the post read.
There was no immediate response from the EC or the BJP to the allegations.
