The campaign for the first-ever presidential elections formally kicked off in Afghanistan on Tuesday amid increasing insurgency in the post-Taliban state.

The 30-day campaign for presidential elections, which began on Sept. 7, will be concluded on Oct. 7, two days ahead of the Oct. 9 presidential elections, said a statement issued by the UN-Afghan joint election commission.

This is the first-ever US-style presidential elections in which Afghans will elect the head of state through direct voting.

On the first day of the campaign, four candidates announced their policies at small meetings.

Many candidates in their speeches promised to alleviate poverty in the war-battered country but none of them commented on their stance about the US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Remnants of the Taliban whose regime was ousted under a US-led military campaign in late 2001 threatened to derail the upcoming elections in the country.

In the latest wave of attacks by the Taliban remnants, at least four rebels and one government soldier were killed in southern Zabul Province Monday night while a US chopper, was said to be shot down in neighboring Uruzgan Province Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2004)