In Afghanistan, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy on the outskirts of Kabul, killing at least 7 and wounding more than 50.
This and other incidents of violence came on Tuesday just ahead of the presidential election the militant group has vowed to disrupt.
The bomber used a car carrying explosives to strike the convoy as it travelled along a road near a British military base on the city's eastern edge.
Hours before the attack on the NATO convoy, two mortar rounds struck near the presidential palace in Kabul.
In a separate blast, two US soldiers were killed and three wounded in eastern Afghanistan.
Those deaths brought the number of US service members killed in Afghanistan this month to 26.
The worsening security raises questions on whether the upcoming election can be held smoothly under the threat of violence.
Humayum Hamidzadi, Afghan President's Spokesman, said, "The people of Afghanistan will not let this opportunity to decide their future leadership go from them and they will not allow the terrorists to derail them from this process that the Afghan people have begun."
Despite the increase in violence, NATO says its forces will refrain from offensive military operations on the election day and would only act in order to protect the population.
(CCTV August 19, 2009)
