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Recent articles here and here.Taliban Attacks Scare Off VotersBy Matthias Gebauer (DER SPIEGEL)Afghans went to the polls Thursday to elect a new president. Although the Taliban did not manage to stop the election from taking place, their attacks and threats kept turnout low in many regions.One would have to be an Afghan to categorize Thursday's elections in Afghanistan as a totally normal day. But despite reports of dozens of attacks, massive firing of rockets in different regions and the fact that polling stations couldn't even be opened in some parts of the country, Afghanistan's Electoral Commission did exactly that. "We did not face any major incidents," said commission chief Azizullah Ludin.
It's difficult to assess just how widespread the problems have been. The security situation makes access to many parts of Afghanistan difficult. But one thing is clear from reports from news agencies, television networks, descriptions given by Afghans on the Internet and telephone calls with dozens of reporters on the ground at different places around the country: The election has been massively disrupted by Taliban attracks. In some parts of the country, especially in northern and southern Afghanistan, it has been hindered entirelyRead full article here. |
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