"This saying is hard; who can accept it?" complain many of Jesus' disciples in this Sunday's gospel. Ahead of Afghanistan's presidential elections Thursday, U.S. troops were working to secure polling places amid an escalating pattern of violence that threatens to keep some Afghans from the polls. Gunfire and the thunder of explosions echoed through the capital on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the scheduled start of nationwide voting for president and provincial assemblies.

Taliban commanders have warned Afghans against voting in the election, which the West sees as a crucial benchmark for Afghanistan's young democracy. At least six election workers have been killed since Tuesday in attacks blamed on insurgents. In recent days the Taliban claimed responsibility for two major suicide bombings in the capital that killed more than 15 people, and in a symbolic strike, militants even tried to lob mortar shells into the presidential palace.

In Afghanistan's south, the main flash point for fighting between Western troops and the Taliban, military authorities Wednesday reported the deaths of six U.S. troops in separate incidents in the previous 24 hours, one of them from noncombat causes.

Thousands of new U.S. troops arrived over the summer. Safeguarding the election was one of their primary missions. Despite their efforts, both troop deaths and civilian casualties have soared. "The danger is there, and the danger is real," Kai Eide, the top United Nations representative in Afghanistan, said in an interview. "We will make the vote as secure as we can under the circumstances."

Authorities acknowledged that a clear-cut result could take weeks. A preliminary tally is expected to be released over the weekend. But a final count will not be announced for two weeks, and candidates then have two more weeks to contest the result. If a runoff takes place, it would occur in October.

Source: Articles by Laura King for the Los Angeles Times, BBC News, and Associated Press