Afghanistan - presidential elections

Taliban threaten Afghan polling stations

Article published on the 2009-08-16 Latest update 2009-08-16 09:57 TU

Election preparations: a donkey loaded with ballot boxes in a village in northeastern Badakhshan province, 15 August 2009
(Photo: Reuters)

The Taliban have threatened to attack Afghan polling stations next week during the presidential election. In leaflets distributed in villages in the south on Sunday, the Taliban threatened to escalate violence and told people to boycott the 20 August vote. The threat of violence and a recent rise in attacks will likely affect voter turnout and could delegitimize the results.

One leaflet distributed in Kandahar city, a Taliban stronghold, was a letter from Mullah Ghulam Haidar, the Taliban operations commander there.

"This is to inform respected residents that you must not participate in the elections so as not to become a victim of our operations, because we will use new tactics," it said, adding that voters would be considered enemies of Islam.

"All people are being informed that you must not rent out property to voting centres and if anyone did - even after elections - they may face problems.”

A Taliban spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the leaflets, which are the first direct threat on polling sites.

"We are using new tactics targeting election centres,” Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told the AFP news agency, saying that things would escalate the day before the election.

"I cannot comment on the new tactics we will use. Targeting polling stations won't just be in the south, it is for the whole country.”

The threat conflicts with an announcement Thursday by President Hamid Karzai’s younger brother, Ahmed Wali, that deals had been struck with Taliban commanders in the south to ensure poll safety.

The threat of polling station violence comes as violence has been escalating in the country, despite the US posting thousands of extra troops to the south to try to crush insurgents.