Us > Taliban kidnap Afghan vote candidate

The Taliban, ousted by U.S. and opposition forces in 2001, have condemned the parliamentary and provincial elections and claimed responsibility for attacks on several candidates.

The candidate, Khan Mohammad, running for a seat on the provincial council in Kandahar province, was captured along with the district chief and the three policemen when they were traveling together on Friday, police said.

"Taliban caught these five and took them away," said Haji Padshah, police chief of Ghorak district. A Taliban spokesman said Taliban fighters had taken the five. A Taliban council, or shura, would decide their fate, the rebel spokesman said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

More than 1,000 other people, most of them militants but including 49 U.S. soldiers, have been killed in a surge of clashes, ambushes and bombings this year.

U.S. and Afghan government forces have mounted a series of operations in the south and east in recent months aimed at clearing out militants and ensuring security for the elections.

U.S. and Afghan officials say the vote will not be disrupted.

2005-09-03