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AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-ELECTION-VOTE-UPDATE
Dozens of casualties as multiple blasts rock Kabul polling centres
KABUL, Oct 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Multiple explosions rocked polling centres
across Kabul on Saturday, causing dozens of casualties, amid growing anger
among voters as they waited hours to cast their ballots in long-delayed
legislative elections.
At least 30 people have been taken to a trauma hospital run by the Italian
NGO Emergency, including a dead child, the organisation said on Twitter,
hours after the Taliban warned voters to boycott the ballot “to protect their
lives”.
Afghan officials confirmed there have been casualties but would not provide
a number.
An AFP correspondent saw voters fleeing a polling centre in the north of
the Afghan capital following a blast that a witness said had caused a number
of casualties.
Deadly violence has marred the shambolic preparations for the parliamentary
election that is more than three years late, with hundreds killed or wounded.
The latest bombings are likely to scare off voters, hurting turn out and
the credibility of the election.
Missing voter registration lists and hiccups with biometric voter
verification devices — which are being used for the first time — already
have caused lengthy delays at polling centres across the country, voters and
candidates complained.
Most polling centres opened late after teachers employed to handle the
voting process failed to show up on time, said the Independent Election
Commission (IEC), which has promised to extend voting hours.
“I came here early to finish and go home quickly, but we have been waiting
for an hour and they have not started yet,” Mustafa, 42, told AFP outside a
mosque in Kabul.
“The queue is getting longer. They have to register our votes quickly — we
are afraid a bomber or a blast may hit us.”
Many polling centres in the heavily Shiite neighbourhoods of Kabul remained
closed, a top government official told broadcaster Tolo News.
“I have been waiting for two and a half hours and the IEC officials say
they have not received the voter (registration) list yet,” said Mohammad
Mohaqiq, a deputy to Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
Abdullah — Afghanistan’s equivalent of prime minister — also waited for
around half an hour at a polling centre as election workers searched for his
name on a list.
IEC chief Abdul Badi Sayyad later apologised for the delays.
Almost nine million people have registered to vote in the parliamentary
election, which is more than three years late.
The killing of a powerful police chief in a highly secure compound in the
southern province of Kandahar on Thursday has eroded confidence in the
ability of security forces to protect polling locations.
Voting in Kandahar has been delayed by a week following the attack, which
killed three people, including General Abdul Raziq.
As voting got under way Saturday, three rockets were fired into the
northern city of Kunduz, a police spokesman said. No casualties were
reported.
There also were numerous reports of bomb explosions near polling stations
in several provinces.
Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged “every Aghan, young and
old, women and men” to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot
in Kabul.
Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching
their identification documents purportedly lining up outside voting centres
across the country amid a heavy security presence.
A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in the northern city of
Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about “security incidents”, but
decided to vote anyway.
“We have to defy the violence,” Hafiza, 57, said. “In previous years we
were not happy with the elections, our votes were sold out.”
The IEC, which has been skewered over the chaotic lead-up to the ballot, on
Friday urged Afghans to “vote only once” and called on others not to
interfere in the process.
– Taliban threats –
The Taliban issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll,
calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home.
At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house
election have been killed.
Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs
and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which has spearheaded
international efforts to keep Afghan organisers on track, on Friday called on
voters to “exercise their constitutional right to vote”.
The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year’s presidential election
and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where
Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on “democratic processes”.
But there are concerns the results could be thrown into turmoil if the
biometric verification devices are broken, lost or destroyed.
Votes cast without the controversial machines will not be counted, the IEC
has said.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1406 hrs