Afghan police have killed at least three gunmen who stormed a bank building in Kabul this morning in the latest of string of Taleban attacks designed to disrupt tomorrow’s presidential election.

Police were searching for any remaining attackers after a short gun battle at the building, which is just a few hundred metres from the presidential palace compound where President Hamid Karzai lives.

A Taleban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack which followed a suicide car bombing yesterday that killed eight people and wounded more than 50 in Kabul. He also claimed that 20 armed suicide attackers wearing explosive vests had entered Kabul earlier this morning.

Police initially said the attack might have been a robbery gone wrong, but later confirmed that it was carried out by the Taleban.

"We have killed three of the attackers inside the bank," said Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, the Kabul criminal investigation police chief.

"They were Taleban."

The Taleban has pledged to disrupt tomorrow’s election by attacking polling stations, and cutting the throats or chopping off the fingers of anyone who votes.

That has raised fears that a low turnout, especially in the south, could encourage electoral fraud and undermine the legitimacy of an election seen as a test of international efforts to build democracy in Afghanistan.

But Afghan officials have been trying to negotiate truces with local Taleban commanders who may be reluctant to cause Afghan civilian casualties in their own areas.

The government has also ordered Western and domestic media to impose a blackout on coverage of violence during the poll to avoid scaring voters away.

International forces, meanwhile, have suspended offensive operations tomorrow and will not deploy any troops at polling stations so that they do not become a magnet for Taleban attacks.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, called on all eligible Afghan voters yesterday to cast their votes to help strengthen Afghanistan's democratic institutions.

"The Secretary General encourages all Afghan women and men eligible to vote to cast their ballots in the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections," a UN statement said.

"By participating in these elections, the Afghan people will help Afghanistan strengthen its democratic institutions, bring fresh vigor to the country's political life, and ultimately reaffirm their commitment to contribute to the peace and prosperity of their nation."

Mr Ban also urged all candidates, their supporters, as well as domestic and international observers to help "ensure a smooth and successful electoral process".

He had earlier expressed distress over the death of two U.N. staffers in yesterday’s car bombing in Kabul, which also killed a Nato soldier.

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