A violent attack in Afghanistan's capital left at least eight people dead on Tuesday, just days before Afghans go to the polls to choose a president.
The suicide car bomber targeted a NATO convoy on the outskirts of Kabul, killing one NATO soldier and seven other people, and wounding about 50 people.
The explosion also killed two Afghans who were working with the United Nations staff, and wounded another.
NATO did not immediately reveal the nationality of the fallen soldier.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement he was "deeply distressed" by the attack.
The Tuesday morning car bombing took place on a road close to a British military base. About a dozen private vehicles were damaged in the explosion.
In a separate bombing in eastern Afghanistan, two American soldiers were killed and three were wounded. Twenty-six U.S. soldiers have died in the country this month.
Hours earlier, militants fired two mortar rounds towards the presidential palace in the capital. One landed inside the palace grounds, but there were no reported injuries.
CTV's South Asia Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer said the attacks did not come as a surprise.
"This is the follow-through of the promise by the Taliban that it would do everything it could, and everything it was capable of, to disrupt the elections," she told CTV's Canada AM from Kabul.
NATO officials believe a strong turnout for Thursday's election is essential for the winner to establish political legitimacy in a country where corruption remains a serious problem.
NATO halting military offensive operations
The roughly 100,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan will not carry out offensive operations on election day, instead focusing solely on security and protecting voters.
"Our efforts alongside our Afghan security partners will focus on protecting the people of Afghanistan from the insurgents so that the population can freely exercise their right to choose their next president and their provincial representatives," NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay said.
The Afghan Foreign Ministry sent out a statement to the media Tuesday, asking them to avoid "broadcasting any incidence of violence" between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on election day "to ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people."
Mackey Frayer said the threat from the Taliban is less prevalent in larger cities like Kabul because there is a greater level of anonymity. In some smaller towns and cities, however, Afghans feel intimidated about going to vote.
"They simply say they can't go to the polls on voting day because if the Taliban finds out they could hurt their families and it would result in trouble down the road and they are thinking twice about whether they will exercise their right to vote," Mackey Frayer said.
However, she said attacks like the one on Tuesday are seen as backfiring against the Taliban because they often result in the deaths of civilians, not soldiers.
Security forces are on high alert this week because of the upcoming presidential vote.
President Hamid Karzai is considered to be the frontrunner, but he faces a stiff challenge from former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Election observers have warned that fraud is a serious issue, and say the government has ignored their warnings.
There are about three dozen candidates in the race.
