Mon, Sep 20, 2010 page1

• Afghan election more violent than last year: NATO

  • AGENCIES, KABUL
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  The number of violent incidents during Afghanistan’s parliamentary vote was higher than during last year’s presidential poll, but significantly fewer were killed and injured, NATO said yesterday.

  A total of 485 violent incidents took place on Saturday, when Afghans went to the polls beneath a shadow of Taliban threats to attack polling stations, election workers, security forces and any civilians who dared to vote.

  The figures were provided by NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which put the number of violent incidents on Aug. 20 last year, the day of the presidential election, at 479.

  A total of 22 people were killed on Saturday, it said, compared with almost 50 on election day last year, which was widely characterized as Afghanistan’s most violent day since the current war against the Taliban began in late 2001.

  NATO calculated that seven Afghan civilians were killed on Saturday and another 34 wounded in election-related violence across the country.

  Eleven members of the Afghan security forces were killed, it said, and another 31 wounded.

  ISAF has reported four foreign soldiers killed while battling the Taliban on Saturday, and a NATO spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said another 36 ISAF soldiers were wounded in various incidents throughout the day.

  The spokesman said 26 insurgents were killed on Saturday.

  He said the incidents recorded included everything from sporadic gunfire to bomb and rocket attacks.

  The figures contrast sharply with the presidential poll, which also took place amid Taliban threats against voters, but were not nearly as well prepared as Saturday’s vote.

  The violence was expected on both occasions, and Afghan and Western officials repeatedly warned the vote would not be perfect.

  The Independent Election Commission, which ran the election, released details of polling centers a month ahead — rather than two days before as they did last year — allowing candidates and their supporters, domestic and international observers, voters and security forces to know where to go.

  Yet, such preparations did not prevent “extensive irregularities” from being reported, according to a non-governmental group monitoring the parliamentary elections.

  Violent incidents included polling centers being blown up in Kunar, Khost and Kandahar provinces and being captured in Laghman, Kunduz and Badghis, the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) said.

  Acts of violence were also carried out by “candidates, their agents and local powerbrokers” and there was “a worrying number of instances of government officials interfering ... to sway the results in favor of their chosen candidates.”

  FEFA said “ballot stuffing was seen to varying extents in most provinces, as were proxy voting and underage voting.”

  “The widespread ink failures at the polls caused panic among candidates who feared the ink’s removability would enable fraud by rivals distributing multiple voter cards to their supporters,” FEFA added.

  FEFA said some poll stations closed hours before the official closing time of 4pm, and “in many cases” voters had been unable to cast their votes, some because ballot papers had run out.

  Interference by candidates during closing procedures was widely reported, FEFA said, and closing procedures had been inconsistent.

  Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai cast his ballot for a female, Hindu candidate when he voted in the election, two palace officials close to him said.

  Just two Hindu candidates were on the list of about 600 vying for parliamentary seats in Kabul.
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