Female election candidate injured in gun attack in Afghanistan

Kabul (dpa) - A female candidate running for the upcoming parliamentary elections was shot and injured Wednesday in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, electoral officials said Thursday.

The candidate was taken to a coalition hospital in the same province, according to officials from Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), where she was said to be in a stable condition, according to a JEMB officials.

Since the start of the election process, five candidates have been killed and five other people who were working for the electoral body have also been killed. Another candidate is missing.

In total 12.5 million Afghans will have their first opportunity in more than three decades to elect a national legislature and 34 provincial councils this weekend.

Almost 5,800 candidates are contesting the elections on September 18, including 2,760 candidates for the 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of National Assembly), and 3,016 candidates for a total of 420 seats on 34 provincial councils.

Around 6,270 polling centres containing around 26,240 polling stations will open at 6.00am across Afghanistan. Polling centres will close their gates at 4.00pm, but voters already in line will be allowed to continue queuing to vote.

The September 18 parliamentary election is the first to be held in the country after nearly 30 years of armed conflict. A total of 249 seats have been allocated for the Afghan parliament, according to the new Afghan constitution. dpa km emc