Afghanistan against elections in the shadow of violence

A man told the AFP news agency that he would vote in a polling hall in a school in northern Kabul when he was forced to flee for his life. He states that several people were injured in explosions.

Explosions were held near two other polling stations, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of the Interior said, according to AFP. According to the spokesman, no one was injured when the voters were inside the buildings.

A source of authority, however, indicates that there are dead and wounded in the blasts.

In some provinces, elections were extended until Sunday due to technical problems.

Delayed choice

The elections had been announced until June 2015. However, the political stalemate and the escalating escalation of violence forced us to postpone it repeatedly.

About 54,000 soldiers will be monitoring the polls on Election Day on Saturday, October 20.

Suspended in Kandahar

After the death of Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq in an attack, the electoral commission decided that the elections could not be held as planned in the province. He is now traveling a week, announcing a spokesman for the Commission.

Raziq's death has shocked the war-torn country and fears that the attack will even discourage voters from going to the polls. The Taliban have vowed to sabotage the process even this time.

Anders Högrell, Swedish colonel in Afghanistan, said that security in the country was worse than in the long run.

"I see it mainly in the number of dead and injured cops we receive," he told SVT News.

Hundreds of thousands in flight

But it is not only the Taliban who are threatening the electoral process. A prolonged drought has affected vast areas of the north and west of the country.

In total, an estimated 2.2 million people have suffered. And more than 263,000 people are fleeing drought in four provinces, according to UNCO Unocha.

Anders Högrell said he hoped more young people would be elected to parliament and that it would reverse the downward spiral.

"The odds are pretty small." Elections may not be a huge interest for petty men, but we still hope that a number of young people in Parliament will come up with new ideas and perhaps continue with a process. of peace between the government and the armed resistance.