KANDHAR, Afghanistan, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A total of 19 people including 11 security personnel and eight members of Kandahar provincial election commission were killed, following series of car bomb attacks, conducted by the Taliban militants in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, officials said Sunday.
According to Kandahar police chief Tawdin Khan, 11 security personnel were killed in the blasts and shooting conducted by the Taliban in Marof district late Saturday night and 27 others were injured.
In the multiple attacks, eight members of the provincial independent election commission, who were working for the voters' registration process, were also killed during the militants' overnight attacks in the district, provincial election commission chief Hashim Durrani told Xinhua.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, the Taliban outfit's spokesman in the south, claimed Sunday that their fighters have taken control of the Maruf district center, killing 57 government soldiers and arresting 11 others.
Meantime, Aziz Ahmad Azizi, the provincial governor's spokesman confirmed the attack, but rejected the Taliban's claim as baseless, saying the Taliban militants fled away after suffering casualties.
