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Afghans shout slogans during a protest to support presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah (Reuters)
Afghanistan's presidential election result has been delayed for several days, as a dispute over alleged fraud threatens to derail the country's first democratic transfer of power.
Abdullah Abdullah, reported to be far behind in the vote count, welcomed the delay and called for an anti-fraud audit that could trigger a prolonged political stalemate as US-led combat troops end their 13-year war against the Taliban.
The United Nations and donor countries have been trying for months to prevent a contested election outcome, fearing a messy power struggle that could fuel ethnic unrest.
But with Abdullah and his poll rival Ashraf Ghani at loggerheads, many fear the deadlock could tip Afghanistan into street protests and uncertainty.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said on Tuesday (local time) preliminary results due out on Wednesday (local time) would be delayed as some ballot boxes from the June 14 run-off vote would be checked "to make sure of transparency".
"Now there is a time, there is a space, because of the delay," Abdullah told AFP in an interview at his heavily-fortified residence in Kabul.
"We are talking about measures that would be more robust, vigorous auditing (and) that would take care of the fraudulent ballot papers.
"Almost everybody now agrees there has been industrial-scale fraud... The outcome will not be considered legitimate if that is not being taken care of."
Abdullah, previously seen as the front-runner, boycotted the vote count over the alleged fraud, while his rival Ghani said the election was fair and claimed victory by more than one million votes.
Ghani's campaign team on Tuesday criticised the delay in results, but said it welcomed any attempt to reduce fraud.
"We believe the election commission should work in accordance to the election timeline and announce results on time," campaign spokeswoman Azita Rafat told AFP.
"If this delay is for the sake of transparency then we accept it, though it runs against the election law."
AFP
U.S Army Lt. Col. Andrew Pekala, left, talks with Afghan border police Lt. Col. M. Haroon Basiri, center, during a meeting in Jalalabad in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. Pekala is the commander of the 10th Mountain Division's Security Forces Advisory and Assistance Team Blue, 4th Brigade Combat Team. U.S Army photo by Spc. Vang Seng Thao
The Afghan national security forces foiled at least 473 major terrorist attack plots during the election day in Afghanistan.
Afghan intelligence – national directorate of security (NDS) chief, Rahmatullah Nabil said Saturday that Lashkar-e-Taiba and Haqqani Network militants were looking to carry out coordinated attacks in various parts of the country during the election runoff day.
Nabil further added that the Afghan national security forces carried out at least 60 military operations to thwart the militants attacks.
He said the militants were looking to carry out at least 1,000 terrorist attacks in six different zones of the country including Kandahar, Helmand and Herat provinces.
In the meantime, Afghan army chief of staff, Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi said Afghan national security forces managed to thwart the major attack plots by having close coordination.
Gen. Karimi further added that the Afghan security forces suffered casualties mostly due to improvised explosive device (IED) attacks.
He also added that the enemies of Afghanistan suffered heavy casualties during the operations by Afghan security forces.
Afghan national security forces foiled coordinated suicide attack plot in western Nimroz province of Afghanistan.
According to local government officials, at least three suicide bombers were arrested in connection to the attack plot.
Provincial governor spokesman, Ahmad Arab, said the suicide bombers were arrested from Del Aram district on Friday night.
Mr. Arab further added that the suicide bombers were looking to attack a military installation in Del Aram district.
Afghan security forces also confiscated three suicide bombing vests, a vehicle along with explosives and weapons from the detained would-be bombers, local officials said.
The anti-government armed militant groups have not commented regarding the report so far.
At least six people have been killed after a pair of explosions struck the convoy of Afghan presidential frontrunner Abdullah Abdullah.
At least 22 people were wounded in the blasts, which occurred shortly after Abdullah left a campaign event in Kabul on Friday. Security officials say at least one of the blasts involved a suicide bomber. Abdullah was not injured, but in a televised statement shortly after the attack he said that two of his bodyguards were wounded.
According to Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Siddiqui, the attack occurred "in the vicinity of a campaign rally." "The [rally] was over and they were out on the way, they came under the attack by a terrorist, a suicide bomber,” he said.
A second bomb went off near the car, Siddiqui added, saying the explosions left six civilians dead and 22 wounded.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombings, for which no one immediately claimed responsibility.
Abdullah Abdullah
- Received 45 percent of vote in first round of presidential election on April 5
- Served as Hamid Karzai's foreign minister
- Ran for president in 2009
- Trained as an eye doctor
- Father is Pashtun, mother is Tajik
At least 20 Taliban militants were killed in various military operations conducted by Afghan national security forces in the past 24 hours.
Defense ministry spokesman, Gen. Zahir Azimi said Afghan national army soldiers participated in a joint military operation which was launched in Pechargam district of Nangarhar province on Tuesday morning.
Azimi further added that preliminary reports suggest at least ten Taliban militants were killed during the operations which is still being conducted in the area.
He said at least four Taliban militants were killed during a separate operation in Marjah district of southern Helmand province.
In the meantime, the interior ministry of Afghanistan following a statement said at last six Taliban militants were killed during counter-terrorism operations in Kunar, Zabul, Logaar, Helmand and Nimroz provinces.
The statement further added that five Taliban militants were also injured and seven others were detained during the operations.
Afghan security forces also confiscated various types of weapons, ammunition and explosives during the military operations, interior ministry said.
U.S. Soldiers Attend Meeting With Afghan Police in Jalalabad.
U.S Army Lt. Col. Andrew Pekala, left, speaks with Afghan Col. Abdushah Zarifi, right, the Nangarhar provincial chief of security, outside of the provincial police headquarters building in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, |
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Senaste inläggen
- Election result delayed in Afghanistan
- U.S. Soldiers attend meeting with Afghan Police
- 473 major terrorist attack plots foiled by Afghan security f...
- 3 suicide bombers arrested in Nimroz province
- Explosions struck the convoy of Afghan presidential frontrun...
- Military operations conducted by Afghan national security f...
- With Afghan Police in Jalalabad
- Talks with the chief of security
- Laghman residents rise up against Taliban militants
- Recent Afghan operations
- Improving Security throughout Nangarhar province
- Professionalism is very key
- Preparing for safe voting
- Coordinated operations
- Guardian Angel