Afghan vote marked by light turnout, attacks

Hundreds of polling stations either closed or came under attack and at least 10 civilians were killed in Afghanistan's parliamentary elections on Saturday, even as officials insisted the vote was generally safe nationwide. The city of Kandahar seemed particularly hard hit. Explosions were heard every half hour through the morning, and 31 had occurred by mid-morning including rockets fired by insurgents, according to a security official there, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. Kandahar Gov. Tooryalai Wesa toured polling places to encourage voters to turn out, but his own convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, slightly damaging his armored car but hurting no one. Voter turnout was extremely low in Marja, the Helmand Province battleground, as bullets flew over the polling station near the district center, and insurgents launched a rocket-propelled grenade into the main United States Marine base here. No one was injured in the rocket blast, which landed close to an ammunition supply area and destroyed the wooden platform of a tent housing several Marines. Marine commanders responded with three Hellfire missiles shot from Reaper drones, which they say killed at least two insurgents who had launched the rocket a quarter mile from the base.