Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani survived a Taliban ambush today in northern Kunduz province, where militants clashed with police for a second straight night, officials said.
Mr Rabbani, now a member of parliament, is a one of the main supporters of Abdullah Abdullah, the leading rival to incumbent Hamid Karzai in an August 20th presidential election.
The former president was travelling on a road in the Ali Abad district of Kunduz when the Taliban ambushed him with rocket propelled grenades and gunfire, said the chief of the district, Habibullah Mohtashim.
Mr Rabbani and those in his convoy were unhurt, while three fighters died in a clash with bodyguards and police, he added.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack.
The violence jolted the once-quiet part of the country a week before a presidential election that the militants have vowed to disrupt. Insurgents are spreading their attacks from the south and east into Afghanistan's north and west.
Reuters