Afghan voters brave attacks on poll day
KABUL: A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Afghan capital Saturday, killing at least 15 people as voting concluded in parliamentary elections overshadowed by the threat of violence and long delays at polling stations.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said earlier it had carried out over 300 attacks on the “fake election” across the nation.
Polling stations were kept open longer than normal. Turnout was higher than expected, but many voters were forced to endure extended waits because of technical and organisational problems. “People’s enthusiasm and participation despite threats, intimidation and attacks by militants must be lauded today,” said one senior international security official, who added: “The electioneering process will require
close scrutiny as it is clear that there were multiple failures.”
Untested biometric voter-registration equipment, rushed in at the last minute to counter voter fraud, caused particular problems. The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan, a civil action group, said the devices suffered malfunctions in more than 40% of polling centres.
In the days leading to the vote, Taliban militants issued statements telling people not to take part in what they consider a foreign-imposed process and warning poll centres may be attacked. Afghanistan’s political scene is still tainted by the aftermath of a disputed presidential vote in 2014 that forced the two rival groupings to form an unstable partnership. Both sides were accused of massive electoral cheating.
About 2,450 candidates are competing for places in the lower house, which has 250 seats, including one reserved for a candidate from the Sikh minority.