Afghan polls close after day of bombings, Taliban threats and fraud accusations

‘If there is massive fraud, and somebody is announced as a winner, this will not be accepted,’ leadership rival Abdullah Abdullah tells Kim Sengupta in Kabul

Afghan women cast their votes on a day that saw outbreaks of violence across the country (Reuters)

Bombings and shootings, Taliban threats of massacre and accusations of fraud plagued Afghanistan’s presidential election on Saturday.

But there was also the flickering hope among voters of a better future for a country torn apart by years of relentless violence.

Around 20 attacks were carried out across the country – including on polling stations – with explosions in the cities of Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad.

However, there were no reports of any large scale casualties. Security forces reported on Saturday that 28 insurgents had been killed in operations in the previous 24 hours.

There had been uncertainty about whether the election would take place at all while negotiations were ongoing between the US and the Taliban in Qatar. The talks were ended earlier this month by Donald Trump after an American soldier was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan.

But the negotiations are expected to continue – Mr Trump is desperate to bring troops home in time for his re-election campaign, and claim credit for ending the longest war in American history.

The meetings in Doha were meant to pave the way for an eventual deal that brings the Taliban back into government. Although a draft agreement presented by Zalmay Khalilzad, the head of the US team, had faced criticism, this is seen as a possibility for the near future.

Abdullah Abdullah, the co-leader of the outgoing government, and the main challenger to president Ashraf Ghani in the election, had said that “interim power-sharing” with the Taliban could be the answer to ending the endless strife.

Casting his vote at the polling station of Amani High School in Kabul, Mr Ghani praised the security forces for “putting in place strong measures to prevent attacks and protect the nation”.

Accompanied by his wife Bibi Gul and running mate Amrullah Saleh, he insisted that a settlement to the conflict remained the priority. “Our plans are ready for implementation, we are waiting for a fresh mandate from the nation,” he said.

But the ongoing danger was underlined by the need to deploy 70,000 soldiers and police officers on the day, with US-led international forces providing air support.

Around 29,500 polling stations were set up in schools, mosques, hospitals and government buildings.

Victims of a bomb outside a polling station are treated at a hospital in Kandahar (EPA/Muhammad Sadiq)

Nearly 1,500 of them would remain closed because adequate protection could not be guaranteed – and 901 polling stations could not be contacted when voting was supposed to start to find out if they were functioning.

Repeated bomb threats from the Taliban appeared to have affected turnout in many areas.

Numbers were low in Kabul, where a series of suicide attacks has devastated the city. But women queued up in traditionally conservative Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, before polling stations opened at 7am, despite recent violence.

Some voters and officiators turned up against the wishes of family members and friends who are worried about security. They said they felt it was their duty as citizens to do so.

And some had deeply personal reasons to vote.

“I know my relations would be unhappy about me being here, they have asked me not to”, said Sherenshah Paikai, an election observer for Mr Ghani’s campaign at a polling station at Zarghuna High School.

“My husband was killed in a suicide bombing, leaving my children fatherless. I know what it’s like to be affected by violence. Our country cannot go on like this, more dead, more widows. People need to vote so that we have a stable government.”

Peace and stability is not her only concern. Ms Paikai has had to bring up four children by herself since her husband Abdulbakir, a shopkeeper, was killed four years ago.

“I had a job with the UN, but then the contract finished, and now I am without work,” she said. “It is a struggle, our economy needs to improve.”

Ms Paikai said that despite the killing of her husband, she would welcome the Taliban getting involved in politics and becoming part of a future government if that bought peace.

“They must realise that just keeping on killing is not the answer. We would like them to come back into society – as long as they give up violence,” she said.

Watching out for any malpractice alongside Ms Paikai at the polling station was Khatima Karimi, a 21-year-old nursing student who was an observer for the Abdullah team.

“I am interested in politics as a woman and an Afghan and so I wanted to join in,” she said. “I did this role in the parliamentary election last year and I know what to do, I want to get involved in this more.”

Ms Karimi said she wanted to continue to live and work at a hospital in Afghanistan after she qualified. “I want to help sick people – that is why I am doing my nursing course. I know I will have to treat people injured in the fighting, but we all hope there is an end to that soon,” she said.

The previous four Afghan elections, since the fall of the Taliban, were mired in allegations of fraud – and there have been accusations that the result will be “fixed” this time too.

Dr Abdullah, who holds that he was the victim of fraud in the 2014 election against Dr Ghani, and in the previous poll against former president Hamid Karzai, maintained: “We have registered quite a few complaints, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

“My main concern will be that massively fraudulent elections will have an impact on the mentality of the people on whether the democratic process has been functioning or not. If there is massive fraud, and somebody is announced as a winner, this will not be accepted.”

The Independent Election Commission, administering the polls, claims that the use of biometric verification will prevent ballot-rigging. Every polling station has been supplied with equipment to match fingerprints and photographs to identity cards.

Hawa Alam Nuristani, the chair of the election commission, stressed that only votes with biometric verification would be counted.

But there have been complaints of the machines breaking down and officials not being able to use them properly.

Checking the voters biometrically at Amani, Zahra Abdulrahimzai did not think the system would pose too many problems.

The 20-year-old medical student said: “We have had five days of training and this is not difficult, we haven’t had any issues this morning. The people seem to accept it.”

Casting his vote at Zarghuna High School, acting interior minister Massoud Andarabi pointed out that major violence had, so far, been averted.

“We had been working 24/7 to minimise the danger and this has paid off,” he said. “I am very glad that we created the conditions for voting to take place.”

But the numbers turning up remained low. Naim Jalauddin, leaving the polling station, said: “When I came for the parliamentary election last year, I had to wait 40 minutes. This time it took two minutes.

“There are two reasons why so few are here. People are scared of getting bombed, and also many are just disillusioned with politicians and turning away from politics. Neither is good for the country.”

Read the first part of the Conflict Without End series here: Afghanistan election marred by bloodshed and corruption; the second part here: Afghanistan families torn apart by deadly carnage: ‘My grandson will have to see more dead bodies when he grows up’; the third part here: Raid on al-Qaeda bomb factory leaves dozens of wedding-goers dead, in latest Afghan violence​; the fourth part here: On the Afghan campaign trail in the shadow of the destroyed Buddhas of Bamiyan, talk of Taliban return divides​; and the fifth part here: As Afghanistan heads to polls, Middle East rivalries threaten already fraught political scene