Helmand officials have confirmed the death toll has risen to eight in the Lashkargah explosion inside an election campaign office in the city.

Helmand governor’s media office said among those killed was the parliamentary election candidate, Saleh Mohammad Achakzai.

The explosion took place in PD1 in the city. Eleven people were also wounded. 

According to the media office the casualty toll could rise. Officials also said it was not yet clear whether it was a suicide bomber or an IED. 

So far no group, including the Taliban, has claimed responsibility.

This comes after a string of attacks on candidates for parliamentary elections. The latest attack comes after an attack at an election rally in Nangarhar on Friday – October 3 - in which 14 people were killed. 

At least eight candidates, including Achakzai, have been killed in insurgent attacks since the beginning of July, soon after the candidate registration process was finalized.

On September 25, Nasir Mubarez, a candidate for the Kochis, from Kandahar, was killed by unknown armed men in a shooting in Kandahar City’s PD2.

On September 2, Anwar Niazi, a Parwan candidate, was killed and two others wounded when a magnetic IED was detonated against the vehicle they were traveling in. The incident took place in Kabul city center, in Shirpoor, in PD10, at about 7pm local time. 

In August, Jalal Salehi, a candidate from Kabul, was killed during a security forces operation in Kabul’s Shakar Dara district. 

Another candidate, former member of Ghazni provincial council, Sayed Obaidullah Sadat, was killed in Ghazni on July 14 by unknown armed men. 

On July 1, the Afghan Sikh and Hindu community leader, Ottar Singh Khalsa, who was running for parliamentary elections, was killed in a suicide attack in Jalalabad city in Nangarhar province. 

And on July 30, another Nangarhar candidate, Hayatullah Khan Rahmani, was killed when a suicide bomber targeted him in Rodat district in the province. 

More than 2,500 candidates are running for 249 parliamentary seats in the October 20 elections.

Following Tuesday’s attack, the US Ambassador to Kabul, John R. Bass said on Twitter: “Elections are about the #Afghan people getting together to make a choice. An attack on the #elections is an attack on the Afghan people. 

President Ashraf Ghani also issued a statement and condemned the attack in Lashkargah, saying that “Afghans who strongly believe in democracy and a bright future, will not allow terrorists and their supporters to prevent a democratic process in the country”.

The president directed security organizations to pay more attention to the safety of the election campaign and parliamentary election candidates so that they can carry on their campaign in a secure and safe environment, the Presidential Palace said in a statement.