Tens of thousands of police, intelligence officials and Afghan National Army personnel have been deployed to protect election centers as Afghan voters head to the polls amid threats of violence from Taliban militants.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghans headed to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president amid high security and threats of violence from Taliban militants, who warned citizens to stay away from polling stations or risk being hurt.Fear and frustration at the relentless corruption that has characterized successive governments ranks high among the concerns of Afghanistan’s 9.6 million eligible voters.
The wounded included a police officer and several election officials, along with voters. Three were in critical condition. Even in the early hours of voting, complaints had begun to be raised such as polling stations in the capital’s posh Wazir Akbar region opening late and biometric machines, aimed at curbing fraud, not working.
Ghafoor said he was told to return at 2 p.m. and that he would be allowed to vote even if his name was not on the list and without using the biometric machine.In Khoja Ali Mohfaq Herawi mosque in Kabul’s well-to-do Shahr-e-Now neighborhood, election workers struggled with biometric machines as well as finding names on voters’ lists.
Tens of thousands of police, intelligence officials and Afghan National Army personnel have been deployed throughout the country to protect the 4,942 election centers. Authorities said 431 polling centers will stay closed because it was impossible to guarantee their security since they were either in areas under Taliban control or where insurgents could threaten nearby villages.
Neighbor Pakistan, routinely accused of aiding insurgents, announced it was closing its borders with Afghanistan Saturday and Sunday to further protect security in the war-weary country.
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