Candidate's Brother Killed in Taliban Attack

The brother of one of the parliamentary elections candidates was killed and three of his body guards were wounded Saturday afternoon in the western Herat province

"When Abdul Hadi Jamshidi, a parliamentary elections candidate from Rabat Sangi district of Herat went to campaign in the district's Qasim Baig village, he came under Taliban attack in which his brother was killed," Abdul Rawoof Ahmadi, Police Spokesman in western Afghanistan told TOLOnews.

After clashes between the Taliban and the candidate's bodyguards, police forces arrived to the area and forced Taliban to pull back, he added.

"I wanted to go a village for my electoral campaigns. I contacted my brother and told him that I was on my way, but when I arrived there, the Taliban had attacked and killed my 30- year-old brother, Abdul Baqi Jamshidi," Abdul Hadi Jamshidi, told TOLOnews reporter.

The three wounded bodyguards are my cousins, of whom one is in a critical condition, he added.

No casualties have been reported on the Taliban and the Afghan National Police side.

Afghan parliamentary elections candidates have previously expressed concern over security problems, and have urged the government to put serious steps in maintaining their security.

Meanwhile, head of Afghanistan Independent Elections Commission (IEC), Fazal Ahmad Manawi, had said on Wednesday last week that around 1,000 polling centres will be closed in 25 provinces due to the increasing insecurity in the country.

IEC has also reported that a number of other polling centres are likely to be closed.

The number of polling centres in upcoming Afghan parliamentary elections will be 5,835 that will have 18,762 polling areas,  IEC said.

Afghan and coalition forces have intensified counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan's unstable regions to maintain security during the upcoming Afghan parliamentary elections.