KABUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- A roadside bomb explosion killed a parliamentary candidate in the troubled southern Helmand province Saturday evening, a senior official in the provincial capital Lashkargah confirmed Sunday.

        "Hajji Habibulla, a candidate for the coming parliament, was critically injured and later on succumbed to his wounds when his car hit a mine in Garmsir district of Helmand province Saturday night," Hajji Mahiudin told Xinhuanet via telephone.It is the seventh candidate has been targeted and killed by suspected Taliban militants over the past two months.

        Remnants of the former fundamentalist regime who vowed to derail the key post-Taliban parliamentary elections have stepped up their hit-and-run attacks as the date for the Sept. 18 polls is drawing closer. Enditem