Candidates in Afghanistan parliament elections begin campaign

Candidates running in Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections have kicked off campaigning ahead of voting next month. The election for the lower house of parliament is scheduled for October 20. However, it is unclear if voting will take place in areas held by the Taliban. The election comes amid a vicious campaign by the Taliban and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), which stage near-daily attacks across the country, AP said. Aziz Ibrahimi, the Afghan election commission spokesman, said 2,565 candidates are battling for 249 seats in the chamber. There are also 417 women among the candidates. Voters will be able to cast ballots at 21,011 polling stations.