BLASTS ROCK AFGHAN POLLS CENTRES
Blasts cause casualties in Kabul as voting is marred by delays
MULTIPLE explosions rocked polling centres across the capital here yesterday, 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 non-governmental organisation Emergency, including a dead child, the organisation said on Twitter, hours after the Taliban warned voters to boycott the ballot “to protect their lives”.
A correspondent saw voters fleeing a polling centre in the north of the 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 verification devices — which are being used for the first time — have caused 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, 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, said outside a mosque here.
“The queue is getting longer. They have to register our votes quickly — we are afraid a bomber or a blast may hit us.”
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.
Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged “every Aghan, young and old, women and men” to exercise their right to vote.
A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif said she had been worried about “security incidents”, but decided to vote anyway.
Voting will be extended to today in some constituencies after technical and organisational problems, officials said.
Abdul Badi Sayad, chairman of Independent Election Commission said voting would continue today in places where election officers or election material arrived late.