Gunmen Kill Election Candidate in Herat

Gunmen killed an influential Afghan parliamentary election candidate Saturday night in the western Herat province

The 55-year-old Abdul Manan Hashimi Noorzayee, an influential tribal elder and a candidate for the upcoming Afghan parliamentary election in Shindand, a district in Herat province was shot dead by unknown gunmen on Saturday night.

"When Abdul Manan Hashimi was on his way to the mosque from his house last night, two gunmen shot him from a car, wounding him severely," the sub-governor of Shindand, Lal Muhammad Omarzai told TOLOnews reporter.

Mr Hashimi died on the way to the hospital due to severe wounds, he added.

No groups, including the Taliban have taken responsibility for the assassination so far.

The killing of parliamentary election candidates in insurgency attacks has raised concerns among the candidates, who have urged the government to hold tight security for their electoral campaigns.

The report comes at a time when 10 members of the electoral campaigns of a female candidate for the Afghan parliamentary election disappeared on Wednesday.

Fowzia Gilani, a candidate for the parliamentary election had told TOLOnews reporter that the men were working for her electoral campaigns and were abducted on the way between Adraskan and Farsi districts.

Later, Taliban took responsibility for the kidnap of five of these men, a claim they had denied before.

Police had said that an investigation was underway, but there has been no news about the whereabouts of these men five days after their abduction.

Afghan and coalition forces have escalated their counter-insurgency operations in the country's insecure areas to wipe out Taliban insurgents and maintain security ahead of the upcoming Afghan parliamentary election.