15 killed in bloody day of Afghan violence

Taliban militants launched a suicide attack on an election commission office in Kabul today, as 15 people died in violence around Afghanistan less than a fortnight before the country's presidential poll.
The insurgents have vowed a campaign of violence to disrupt the ballot on April 5, urging their fighters to attack polling staff, voters and security forces in the run-up to election day.
Five people were killed when the insurgents stormed an office of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in the west of the capital.
Elsewhere, five civilians were killed in a suicide bombing in northern Kunduz province, while a militant attack on a bank in eastern Kunar also left five dead.

In the Kabul incident, Afghan security forces battled the attackers for more than four hours before finally quelling the onslaught.
"At around 11:35 am (local time)(1235 IST) a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of an IEC regional office in Darulaman, and then several other attackers entered the building," Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Estanakzai said.

The dead included two policeman and a provincial council candidate, the interior ministry said in a statement. Five attackers were killed by security forces, according to ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.
The attack was close to the home of Ashraf Ghani, who is seen as a frontrunner in the race to succeed President Hamid Karzai.

The former World Bank economist was out of Kabul at the time, campaigning in the eastern province of Paktia, and Ghani said on Twitter that his family, who were in the house, were safe.
The Kunduz blast came at a venue where another leading presidential candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, is due to hold a rally on tomorrow, provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said.
Three gunmen struck in the attack on the Kunar bank, provincial governor Shuja-ul-Mulk Jalala said, as police lined up to collect their pay.