Polling ends in Afghanistan 2019 elections amid violence

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Polling ends in Afghanistan 2019 elections amid violence

Serious security incidents were reported in several provinces including Kunduz, Nangarhar, Kabul, Bamiyan and Kandahar

Saturday September 28, 2019 10:08 PM, Agencies

[Observers from the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said turnout appeared to be low, especially among women. (File photo)]

Kabul: People in Afghanistan Saturday voted in a one-day presidential election to elect their country's new president through ballots amid violence killing at least 02 people.

A security official who requested anonymity told AFP that two civilians had been killed and 27 wounded in Taliban bombings and mortar attacks at polling centres across the country.

Serious security incidents were reported in several provinces including Kunduz, Nangarhar, Kabul, Bamiyan and Kandahar.

'Fake Elections'

The Taliban, who unleashed a string of bombings during the two-month election campaign, claimed to have conducted hundreds of attacks against Afghanistan's “fake elections”.

Earlier in the day, polling centers in cities and villages opened at 7:00 a.m. local time (0230 GMT) and continued till 5:00 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) in the country's 34 provinces, election commission officials were quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The voting process initially was to end at 3:00 p.m. local time but extended for two more hours to enable the voters to use their franchise, head of the election commission Hawa Alam Nuristani told reporters.

It is the fourth presidential election in Afghanistan since 2001, when the Taliban regime was ousted from power.

Some 9.6 million Afghans are registered to vote, but many lack faith that after 18 years of war any leader can unify the fractious country and improve basic living conditions, boost the stagnating economy or bolster security.

Observers from the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said turnout appeared to be low, especially among women, according to AFP.

14 Candidates in Fray

Fourteen out of the 18 registered candidates are vying for the presidency with a five-year term and among the candidates are sitting President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. Four candidates have withdrawn from the race in favor of one candidate.

Fearing possible fraud in the voting process, many voters have complained that the biometric devices in some polling centers were out of order which undermines the polling transparency.

"I went to a polling center in Aziz Afghan Secondary School in Kabul Police District 10 and voted for my favorite candidate with the hope that my single vote could bring positive change in my life," a Kabul resident, Hamidullah Nayel, told Xinhua.

However, he expressed doubt over the fairness of the voting process, saying, "If the fraud-marred 2014 presidential election repeated, the country may plunge to crisis."

Afghanistan's previous presidential election was held in April 2014 but months' delay in announcing the result almost took the country to the edge of civil war and finally led to formation of National Unity Government with the mediation of former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The election body's chief Nuristani has dismissed all security problems and possible fraud for Saturday's voting, saying all necessary measures have been taken to provide security for the voters and ensure transparency in the polls.

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