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JENNIFER GLASSE:
Well, in some areas they have certainly done it. We know that in some parts of the country, the Taliban have blocked roads and highways to prevent people from going to the polls. In the north, in Kunduz province, they shelled the city and the polling stations. A few kilometers outside the city, they set fire to a polling station, sending out election workers and fleeing voters. Thus, the Interior Minister said that there were more than 190 incidents of violence in the country today, but certainly here in Kabul and in most other city centers, you have seen very determined voters. They were getting up very early, the polls had to open at 7 o'clock this morning. People were online at 6:30 am and many polls opened late.
As you mentioned, a lot of technical difficulties. And yet, the Afghans have persevered and this suicide bombing tonight took place more than an hour and a half after polls closed. People were still waiting online to vote and the vote will of course continue tomorrow. The determination of the Afghan people in the voting process of today is therefore very obvious. We do not know exactly what has happened in rural areas, where, of course, the government has less control and where people are more easily influenced, which will be the real test. But the Electoral Commission tells us that 2 to 2.5 million people voted today out of a total of 8.8 million voters, which is not bad.
