''We have decided not to target polling stations in civilian areas,'' the spokesman, Abdul Latif Hakimi, was reported as saying by Reuters. ''U.S. and Afghan forces are setting up polling stations in crowded areas, which if attacked will cause big losses.'' He was reported to have called several news agencies.

But the Taliban Islamic movement, which was ousted from control in Afghanistan in late 2001, will continue its attacks on military targets even after the elections, Hakimi was quoted as saying.

An American military spokeswoman, Lt. Cindy Moore, said Monday that the American-led forces in Afghanistan had killed more than 100 enemy combatants in heavy fighting in the past three weeks in Zabul and Kunar provinces, an indication of the level of combat in the most troublesome provinces. The dead were counted either by troops on the ground or from the air, and sometimes with the cooperation of local authorities, she said.

Hakimi's previous statements often have not borne out. The Taliban have continued an increasingly lethal insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan in recent months, attacking election officials and candidates, tribal elders and clerics, as well as American and Afghan troops. The apparent aim has been to disrupt the elections, and, with attacks on roadways, to prevent freedom of movement.

The American military, which has suffered an increase in casualties in recent months in Afghanistan at the hands of the Taliban, welcomed the announcement.

''That is the wish that all are working for, a violent-free or peaceful elections, and any peaceful step is welcome on election day,'' Moore said. ''The elections will be successful, and we'll not be deterred from that success.''

Antigovernment elements remain the greatest threat to the election process, said a joint report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, released in Kabul on Monday. Surveys from June to mid-August showed ''escalating threats and attacks against candidates, election workers, civic educators, religious leaders, government leaders and national and international security forces,'' the report said.