MAZAR-I SHARIF, Afghanistan
An Afghan election candidate abducted on Sunday by Taliban gunmen has been found dead.
Hussain Nazari and nine others in his entourage were abducted by militants in the northern city of Sar-i Pul on their way back from an election campaign in Balhab town, local governor Abduljabbar Haqbin told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
He said the country’s security forces were planning a raid to free the men when they learned of their deaths.
"Their bodies were found in an open field," the governor said.
The Taliban on Monday had claimed responsibility for their abduction.
Nazari was standing for a seat in a provincial council in Afghanistan's north.
Afghans will go to polls on Saturday to replace President Hamid Karzai and to decide the formation of 34 provincial councils amid Taliban attempts to scare people from voting.
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