THE TALIBAN’S campaign of violence to disrupt yesterday’s crucial presidential elections in Afghanistan appeared to have succeeded in discouraging voter turnout in the militant south, undermining western hopes that Afghans could be persuaded to accept as legitimate an election already widely criticised for its shortcomings.
Throughout the day Taliban fighters launched sporadic rocket, suicide and bomb attacks that closed scores of election sites. Other polling stations saw only a trickle of voters.
Afghan government officials said militants had launched 73 attacks in 15 provinces during the voting, killing at least 26 Afghan civilians and members of the security forces. But with the Afghan media asked by government not to report violence during the poll, figures were impossible to verify.
While millions of Afghans did vote, any perceived lack of legitimacy in the largely Pashtun south, where hostility to the western-backed government in Kabul is highest, would exacerbate the country’s dire political and security problems.
Despite the violence, President Hamid Karzai – who is hoping for re-election – declared the poll a success. “The Afghan people defied rockets, bombs and intimidation and came out to vote,” Mr Karzai said after polls closed. Across the country election officials suggested turnout could be 40-50 per cent of the country’s 15 million registered voters.
A low turnout in the Pashtun south – the centre of the Taliban insurgency – would be most damaging to the chances of re-election for Mr Karzai, whose support is located there, while boosting the standing of his top challenger, the former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.