KANDAHAR ELECTION POSTPONED

KABUL As mourners gathered for the funeral of assassinated police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq, Afghanistan’s election commission on Friday postponed the vote in Kandahar for a week.

The Independent Election Commission’s deputy spokesman Aziz Ibrahimi said the postponement was meant to allow mourners time to observe funeral rites for the officials killed in Thursday’s attack.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the assault, saying they targeted the top U.S. commander in the country, Gen. Scott Miller, who escaped unharmed.

Also killed was the Kandahar intelligence chief, Abdul Mohmin, but the condition of the province’s governor, Zalmay Wesa, who was wounded, has been shrouded in mystery since the assault. Some reports say Wesa has been transferred to a NATO hospital outside Kandahar.

The attack occurred just as a meeting, convened in Kandahar to discuss security for Saturday’s parliamentary elections, concluded. An elite Afghan guard turned his gun on the departing delegation.

Two Afghan policemen were also killed and three wounded, according to a hospital official. Three Americans — a U.S. service member, a coalition contractor and a civilian — were in stable condition, NATO said.