KABUL WARY AS VOTING BEGINS
Insurgents mar presidential election with bombings
INSURGENTS worked to disrupt Afghanistan’s presidential election yesterday, with a series of blasts reported across the country as voters headed to the polls and troops flooded the streets here.
The vote marks the culmination of a bloody election campaign that was seen as a twohorse race between President Ashraf Ghani and his bitter rival, Abdullah Abdullah, the country’s chief executive.
The Taliban, who unleashed a string of bombings during the two-month campaign, had issued repeated warnings they intend to attack polling centres.
At least 15 people were wounded in Kandahar when a bomb went off at a polling station about two hours after voting began, a hospital director said, and officials across the country reported several small explosions at other election sites.
“Peace is the first desire of our people,” Ghani said after casting his vote at a high school here.
“Our roadmap (for peace) is ready. I want the people to give us permission and legitimacy so that we pursue peace.”
Wary authorities placed an uneasy Kabul under partial lockdown, flooding streets with troops and banning trucks from entering the city in an effort to stop would-be suicide bombers attacking the electoral process.
“I know there are security threats but bombs and attacks have become part of our everyday lives.
“I am not afraid. We have to vote if we want to change our lives,” 55-year-old Mohiuddin, who only gave one name, said.
Some 9.6 million Afghans were registered to vote, but many have lost hope that, after 18 years of war, any leader could unify the fractious country and improve basic living conditions, boost the stagnating economy or bolster security.
Abdullah and Ghani both claimed victory in the 2014 election — a vote so tainted by fraud and violence that it led to a constitutional crisis and forced thenUnited States president Barack Obama to push for a compromise that saw Abdullah awarded the subordinate role.
Election officials say this will be the cleanest election yet, with equipment such as biometric fingerprint readers and better training for poll workers to ensure the vote is fair.
Yesterday’s poll was initially slated to take place in April, but was twice delayed.