|
Violence predicted ahead of Afghan vote
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-01 20:22
U.S. commanders in one of Afghanistan's most volatile provinces expect
violence to peak a week ahead of Sept. 18 parliamentary elections but are
confident the vote can go ahead without major disruptions.
Violence has surged in Paktika province — a former Taliban stronghold that
shares a long, porous border with Pakistan — in recent weeks.
But commanders of U.S. troops camped on a dust-blown plain outside the
provincial capital, Sharan, played down the ability of Taliban holdouts to pose
a major threat to the vote.
Battalion commander Lt. Col. Timothy McGuire said Wednesday the violence
would likely spike a week before the election, without attacks taking place on
election day.
U.S. and coalition forces say they will leave the primary protection of
Paktika's 150 polling stations to the fledgling Afghan police and army, with
international troops providing backup, as will be the case throughout
Afghanistan.
"Our expectation is that the Afghans are going to do 98 percent of this,"
said Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Coalition Forces-Afghanistan.
Eikenberry was briefing NATO commander Gen. James L. Jones, who was visiting
Afghanistan ahead of the election.
NATO has 11,000 mostly European troops providing security in northern and
western Afghanistan, while around 19,000 U.S.-led troops cover the south and
east, including Paktika province.
Militants have stepped up attacks ahead of the landmark vote, and more than
1,100 people have been killed in the past six months.
Militants have regularly clashed with U.S. forces and their Afghan allies in
Paktika. An Afghan police officer was being treated at the base's medical post
Wednesday morning for shrapnel wounds from the latest attack.
However, U.S. commanders say the attacks are uncoordinated and often involve
criminal elements as well as Taliban remnants who have vowed to disrupt the
election.
"In Paktika there are some terrorist elements that run through the province,
but that's a relatively weak element," Eikenberry said. "That (terrorist)
network has been pretty well broken here in Afghanistan."
In addition to scattered bomb attacks, militants are using bullying and
threats to try to intimidate voters, the U.S. officers told Jones. However, they
said voter registration in the provinces is up from last year's presidential
vote.
Afghan authorities expect a high turnout, including among woman voters.
"We expect 75 to 80 percent will vote," said Governor Haji Mohammed Ghulab
Mangel, who attended the briefing at the U.S. base.
U.S. commanders said they were working with candidates to ensure they remain
in the democratic process, even if they lose the vote. They said the main focus
of their operation would be protecting ballot boxes as they are transported to
vote-counting centers.
|
 | | | Pakistani, Indian officials meet for peace | | |  | | | Death toll of Baghdad bridge stampede nears 1,000 | | |  | | | Barretos Rodeo International Festival | | |
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top World
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
