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Afghans are preparing for deadly new violence on Saturday as legislative elections, which have been delayed and the Taliban have sworn to attack, have begun.
After shambolic preparations, polling stations opened in war-torn Afghanistan at 7:00 am (0230 GMT), but threats of militant attacks and expectations of industrial-scale fraud may deter many voters.
People queuing in front of a voting center in Kabul complained about the slow process, apparently because of hiccups with a biometric verification device used in the elections for the first time.
"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.
"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."
The chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, the Afghan equivalent of the prime minister, also waited more than half an hour in a polling center in the Afghan capital while election officials sought his name. on an electoral list, showed live Tolo News show.
Nearly nine million people registered to vote in the parliamentary elections, more than three years behind and the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
In the days leading up to the poll, the Taliban issued several statements in which they urged candidates to withdraw and voters to boycott what the group calls a "malicious American conspiracy".
The murder of a powerful police chief in a highly secure complex in Kandahar province in the south of the country has eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect polling sites.
The vote in Kandahar was delayed one week after the attack that killed three people, including General Abdul Raziq.
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.
Dozens of men and women carrying their identity papers lined up outside polling stations in the Afghan capital, while a strong security presence was blocking many streets.
A woman dressed in a burqa coming out of a polling station in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, in the north of the country, told AFP that she was in charge. worried about "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 Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which was criticized during the chaotic balloting, on Friday urged Afghans to "vote only once" and urged others not to interfere. in the process.
"They must respect the impartiality of the elections so that we can have transparent, impartial and fair elections in Afghanistan," the head of the IEC, Abdul Badi Sayyad, told the press.
– Taliban threats –
Preparations for the vote were tainted by a wave of polling station violence that left hundreds dead or injured.
So far, at least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 have been eliminated.
The most recent victim is Abdul Jabar Qahraman, who was killed Wednesday by a bomb placed under his sofa in the southern province of Helmand.
Most of the candidates 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.
strs-emh-mam-amj / ds / jah
Some 54,000 security forces deployed to protect polling stations
Briefing on Afghanistan, before the parliamentary elections on October 20th.
Summary file on the elections in Afghanistan.
