KABUL, October 20
A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Afghan capital on Saturday, killing at least 15 persons as voting concluded in parliamentary elections overshadowed by the threat of violence and long delays at polling stations.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which appeared to have been the most serious of a day marked by a series of smaller-scale attacks that caused dozens of casualties across the country.
Voting should have been concluded by the time the suicide bomber struck a polling station in the north of Kabul, killing 10 civilians and five police, but polling stations were kept open longer than normal to cope with large numbers of people who had been unable to cast ballots.
Turnout was higher than expected, with long lines forming outside polling centres in the main cities, but many voters were forced to endure extended waits because of technical and organisational problems.
“People’s enthusiasm and participation despite threats, intimidation and attacks by militants must be lauded today,” said one senior international security official, who added: “The electioneering process will require close scrutiny as it is clear that there were multiple failures.”
Untested biometric voter-registration equipment, rushed in at the last minute to counter voter fraud, caused particular problems. The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan, a civil action group, said the devices suffered malfunctions in more than 40% of polling centres.
The Independent Election Commission said voting hours would be extended in some centres to cope with demand and some polling stations, which had not opened at all, would be open on Sunday. — Reuters
Over 130 killed or hurt in poll-related violence
- More than 130 Afghans were killed or wounded in poll-related violence on Saturday, officials said, as the legislative election turned chaotic with hundreds of polling centres failing to open and voters queueing for hours
- Most of the casualties were in Kabul, where at least four persons were killed and 78 wounded in multiple explosions, acting health ministry spokesman said after the Taliban warned voters to boycott the ballot “to protect their lives”
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