KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Clashes at a checkpoint in northern Afghanistan have killed four guards who were in the convoy of a provincial governor.

Officials say the guards had traded fire with policemen at the checkpoint. Four of the policemen were wounded. There are conflicting accounts about how the fighting started.

In other violence today, a mortar shell slammed into a home in eastern Afghanistan, killing one child and wounding five others.

The violence comes as Afghanistan faces a major political crisis, amid allegations of massive fraud in this month’s runoff vote between the two leading candidates. They are competing to replace President Hamid Karzai.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.