Blast kills candidate and three more

A bomb placed under a sofa killed four Afghans including an election candidate yesterday, officials said, as deadly violence escalates ahead of the October 20 parliamentary ballot.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which takes the number of candidates killed so far during the campaign season to at least 10.

Abdul Jabar Qahraman had been meeting with supporters in his campaign office in the southern province of Helmand -- a Taliban stronghold -- when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded, provincial governor spokesman Omar Zhwak told AFP.

Qahraman was among four people killed by the blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, interior minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another seven were wounded and three suspects have been arrested, he added.

In other poll-related violence, gunmen ambushed a candidate's convoy in Logar province, near Kabul, yesterday. There was no casualties in the attack.

Official campaigning for the ballot ends at midnight.