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At least 30 people were taken to a hospital for traumatologists run by the Italian NGO Emergency. Afghan officials confirm that there have been casualties.
ELECTIONS. Afghan women line up to vote at a polling center for the country's parliamentary elections in Herat province on October 20, 2018. Photo Hoshang Hashimi / AFP
KABUL, Afghanistan – Many explosions rocked polling stations in Kabul on Saturday, October 20, killing dozens of people, as anger among voters grew as they waited for hours before voting in parliamentary elections delayed.
At least 30 people were taken to a hospital for traumatologists run by the Italian NGO Emergency, including a dead child, the organization said on Twitter hours after the Taliban warned voters to boycott the country. vote "to protect their lives".
Afghan officials confirmed that there were casualties but would not provide a figure.
A correspondent from Agence France-Presse (AFP) saw voters fleeing a polling station in the north of the Afghan capital after the blast according to a witness who reportedly several victims.
Violent violence has tainted the shambolic preparations for the planned parliamentary elections more than three years late and has left hundreds dead or wounded.
The latest attacks could frighten voters and undermine the credibility of elections.
Voter registration lists and misfires equipped with biometric verification devices – which are used for the first time – have already caused long delays in the country's voting centers. Voters and candidates complained.
Most polling centers opened late after the teachers employed to manage the voting process did not show up on time, said the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which 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, told AFP in a statement. mosque of Kabul.
"The waiting line is getting longer and they have to record our votes quickly – we are afraid that a suicide bomber or explosion will hit us."
Many polling stations in the very Shiite neighborhood of Kabul have remained closed, a senior government official told Tolo News.
"I had been waiting for two and a half hours and the IEC officials say they have not yet received the list of voters," said Mohammad Mohaqiq, deputy chief of the Afghan leadership Abdullah Abdullah.
Abdullah – the Afghan equivalent of the prime minister – also waited about half an hour in a polling center while election officials searched his name on a list.
CIS chief Abdul Badi Sayyad apologized later for the delays.
Nearly 9 million people registered to vote in the parliamentary elections, more than three years behind.
The assassination of a powerful police chief in a highly secure complex in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday, 18 October, undermined confidence in the ability of security forces to protect polling sites .
The vote in Kandahar was delayed one week after the attack, which killed three people, including General Abdul Raziq.
As the vote began Saturday, three rockets were fired at the northern city of Kunduz, a police spokesman said. No casualties have been reported.
Bomb explosions have also been reported near polling stations in several provinces.
Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "all Aghans, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote after voting in Kabul.
The photos posted on social media showed dozens of men and women holding their identification documents allegedly lining up in front of polling stations across the country while security was very present.
A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling station in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, told AFP that she was worried for "security incidents", but still decided to vote.
"We have to challenge the violence," said Hafiza, 57. "In previous years, we were not happy with the elections, our votes were sold."
The IEC, which was disorientated during the chaotic preparation of the polls on Friday, 19 October, urged Afghans to "vote only once" and urged others not to interfere in the polls. the process.
Threats of the Taliban
The Taliban issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll, calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and voters to stay home.
At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 have been killed.
Most of these personalities are political novices and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets should win.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which spearheaded international efforts to keep Afghan organizers on track, on Friday urged voters to "exercise their constitutional right to vote."
The poll is considered a crucial test for next year's presidential election and a milestone in the prospect of the UN meeting in Geneva in November, where Afghanistan is under pressure to advance "democratic processes".
But it is to be feared that the results will be disrupted if the biometric verification devices are broken, lost or destroyed.
Votes cast without controversial machines will not be counted, said the IEC. – Rappler.com
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