Aug. 20, voting day of the second Afghan presidential and provincial election, has seen more than 130 incidents, during which over 50 were killed, mostly Taliban militants, throughout the war-torn country, officials said.
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Election employees count the votes at a mosque in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 20, 2009. Vote counting for the Afghan election started on the evening of Aug. 20. [Zabi Tamanna/Xinhua] |
However, Defense Minister Rahim Wardak, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar, Chief of National Directorate of Security Amrullah Saleh and Head of the Independent Election Commission Aziz Ludin said "We congratulate the nation for a successful elections across the country", while addressing a joint press conference after the polling ended.
Afghan ministers said "eight forces of the Afghan Army were killed and 25 injured in different incidents across the country when insurgents tried their best to disrupt polling, which they failed. Nine police were killed and 14 injured."
They further said that during the day there were a total of 135 incidents including three suicide attacks, seven firefight incidents, 22 mine explosions and 5 blasts.
Two suicide bombers were killed in Kabul early in the morning when voters flocked to the polling centers.
Insurgents had controlled a building in Kabul and they were gunned down after an hour of firefight. officials said six suicide bombers were arrested before they blow themselves up and about 29 bombs planted were foiled before blast.
The intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh revealed that"a group of terrorists were arrested in Kabul. They had planned to take over a ministry building and a hotel in Kabul. Nine others were arrested from Ghazni and Wardak with the assistance of NATO forces. There were 12 intelligence operations in Herat yesterday night based on information about insurgents."
Meantime, Afghan officials thanked media for not airing stories of violence during the day, which they said could discourage voters turnout.
"Taliban had started psychological war months ago, they wanted to destroy peace in major cities of Afghanistan on the Election Day, but they failed. Many of their plans were foiled before operation. Six blasts were foiled in Kandahar," said officials.
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An Afghan casts his ballot at a polling station in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on Aug. 20, 2009. The people of Afghanistan begun voting Thursday morning amid tight security to elect the country' s president and 420 members of the provincial councils. [Zabi Tamanna/Xinhua]? |
Chief of the Afghan Independent Election Commission Aziz Ludin said 94.8 percent out of all 6,519 polling centers were opened without security concern. About 5 percent that remained closed were in districts of Taliban stronghold.
Incumbent President Karzai, who is seeking re-elected, congratulated Afghans for a successful elections and praised "peoples' participation for a better future".
UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan Mr. Kai Eide also hailed elections in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sangcharaki, Chief of the Election Campaign of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, top challenger of Karzai said "overall, the election process today was good. But there have been several cases and attempts of interference and fraud in the elections."
He did not mention any specific proof, but said Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will file his complains to the ECC.
Sangcharaki said, "Our observers were arrested in Kandahar. Government officials there were campaigning for Karzai."
Mr. Bashardost, another top rival of Karzai, complained about the color used for fingers to voters. He said, "The Election Commission had said the color will remain till 48 hours, but the color could be easily removed making chances of fraud for those who had taken many cards."
(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2009)
