Taliban to target voting booths

16/08/09 13:35 CET

world news

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The Taliban has threatened to attack voting booths to disrupt Afghanistan’s presidential and provincial elections on Thursday. Until now, Taliban leaders have told people to boycott the vote. It is the first time the radical Islamist group has said it would directly target people trying to trying to participate in the poll.

In a menacing sign of its increasing boldness, a Taliban suicide attack left seven people dead when a car bomb went off yesterday in front of NATO’s headquarters in Kabul – the most secure district in the capital. The Afghan Ministry of Transport building bore the brunt of the blast with more than 100 people wounded, dozens hurt by flying glass. Polls give Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai a comfortable lead over his closest challenger, Abdullah Abdullah – but not enough to avoid a second run-off.More about: Afghanistan, Taliban

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Mali: Rebel groups agree to creation of Islamic state

Two Rebel groups have agreed to merge and create an independent Islamic state in Northern Mali. After seizing Azawad – an area larger than France – two months ago, the groups had initially disagreed, with the secular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA)…