What issue are both President Obama and Mitt Romney avoiding like the plauge?

The war in Afghanistan, of course.

And one reason they are silent about it is becuase things are getting worse.

Reuters:

Three suicide bombers killed at least 28 people and wounded more than 70 when they blew themselves up in a busy market in southwestern Afghanistan in one of the worst such attacks this year, provincial officials said on Tuesday.

Eighteen civilians including several children and at least three members of the Afghan security forces were among the dead in the town of Zaranj, the provincial capital of Nimroz province next to the border with Iran.

The toll is expected to rise, provincial governor Abdul Karim Barahawi told Reuters.

"The attackers blew themselves up in crowded markets to target civilians, there was no government installation nearby," Barahawi said.

Mohd Musa Rasooli, the Nimroz Police Chief, said three police were among the 28 dead and said the bombers had attacked not only a bazaar, but also the entrance to the local hospital.

Noor Ahmad Sherzad, a health official and hospital doctor, said as many as 100 wounded had been hospitalized.

The attack was the worst in the normally peaceful province since 2001 and comes during a surge in fighting this summer ahead of a withdrawal by most Western combat troops and handover to Afghan forces to be completed by the end of 2014.

An Afghan policeman killed 11 colleagues in the same province on Saturday, opening fire on them at a checkpoint in Dilaram district.

It could be the Taliban, or their allies with the the Haqqani Network, or one of the numerous jihadist groups based in Pakistan who cross into Afghanistan with impunity to kill civilians and soldiers. But it's clear that with American combat troops departing, Afghanistan is going to be a bloody mess.

No wonder Obama and Romney don't want to talk about it.