Rice Pays Surprise Visit to Kandahar

Taliban, meanwhile, threatens to behead US soldiers

(NEWSER) - Militants opened fire on a prayer service for the 16 people killed in a US soldier's shooting rampage this weekend, targeting a visiting government delegation that included two of Hamid Karzai's brothers, along with senior defense, intelligence, and interior ministry officials. The militants fired from a distance, killing at least one government soldier and wounding two other people in what turned into a 10-minute firefight, al-Jazeera reports. "Bullets were coming like rain on us," one witness was quoted as saying. More»

Civilian death spark outrage before Kandahar push

(NEWSER) - Anti-American riots swept Kandahar yesterday after American troops opened fire on a passenger bus, killing at least 4 civilians and wounding 18. Accounts of the incident—which deals a massive blow to NATO's hopes of winning over the local population before its upcoming offensive in the area—vary widely. NATO says troops opened fire after the bus ignored warnings to stop, but some witnesses say it had already pulled over, the Independent reports. More»

Kandahar official survives attack on holiest Muslim holiday

(NEWSER) - The governor of Kandahar narrowly escaped death today when a roadside bomb exploded underneath his convoy. Turyalai Wesa was on his way to prayers on the first day of Eid al-Adha, the holiest holiday on the Muslim calendar. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban, a violent Afghan hotspot, and the likely destination of many of the extra troops whose deployment President Obama is expected to authorize next week. More»

Ten times as many ballots as voters, say Western officials

(NEWSER) - Hamid Karzai's supporters set up hundreds of fake polling stations that delivered hundreds of thousands of votes to the Afghan president, even though nobody voted there, diplomats tell the New York Times. The incumbent's team created as many as 800 fake sites, existing only on paper. Karzai allies also occupied a further 800 polling places, keeping voters away and sending in their own results. Western officials say the number of ballots exceeds voters by a factor of 10. "This was fraud en masse," said one. More»

(NEWSER) - A busy, bloody day in Afghanistan:

• Five car bombs detonated simultaneously in Kandahar, killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 50, reports the AP.
• That follows news of a blast in southern Afghanistan that killed four US troops, bringing to 41 the number of American deaths in August. That's the second highest monthly total (behind last month's 44) since the US invasion in 2001.