Twelve people, including five working for UN Elect, the agency overseeing next months runoff election in Afghanistan were shot dead after militants stormed a guest house and opened fire. The violence comes as the county gears up for the election, which was called after Hamid Karzai’s outright victory was voided due to widespread fraud.

A spokesman for the UN in Kabul said six employees had been killed but was unable to confirm claims that some of the residents worked for UN Elect, the agency supporting the country’s presidential election’s which are due to go into their second round on November 7 despite threats by the Taliban to disrupt polling.* Three militants were killed during the attack, according to Afghan officials.

The disruption caused by this attack, and the increase in security throughout the country in the run up to the election, will likely cause delays in shipments until the situation stabilises. For updates on your shipments, please contact your shipment coordinator. We will update this article as more information comes our way.

Update – More than half the United Nations staff in Afghanistan are to be evacuated for safety reasons after the killing of five workers last week.

*from guardian.co.uk

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