Afghanistan Delays Vote in Kandahar After Killing of Commander

Campaigning for Afghanistan's long-delayed parliamentary elections kicks off on September 28, as a crescendo of deadly violence and claims of widespread fraud fuel debate over whether the vote will go ahead in Kabul, Afghanistan. Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

KABUL—The Oct. 20, parliamentary election in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar will be delayed by a week after the assassination of one of the country’s most powerful security chiefs dealt a stunning blow to the Western-backed government.

General Abdul Razeq, the Kandahar police commander, was killed outside the provincial governor’s office on Thursday, when a bodyguard opened fire on a group of officials as they left a meeting with General Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.