In Afghanistan, the presidential election began on Saturday morning. Images in social media showed people from several provinces who cast their votes or waited in polling stations. More than 72,000 soldiers, policemen and secret service staff secure the election, with another 20,000 to 30,000 standing by as a reserve.
Due to the precarious security situation in the country, however, about one third of the polling stations could not open. This is partly because the Islamist-militant Taliban had announced they would attack the election. They threatened with attacks on security forces and election centers and called for staying at home on election day.
Violence has already occurred in several cases:
- According to the authorities, at least one person was killed in the explosion of a mine in a polling station in the eastern province of Nangarhar in the district of Surchrod. Provincial Council Sohrab Kaderi also spoke on Saturday about three casualties.
- In the northern provincial capital of Kunduz, meanwhile, an election observer died while a rocket hit near a polling station. This is reported by the Provincial Council Maulawi Abdullah.
- In addition, at least 13 civilians and a policeman were injured in the southern city of Kandahar when a bomb hidden in a mosque speaker detonated. The mosque was used as a polling station, said a police officer. In Kandahar, according to the authorities, at least 31 explosive devices have been defused or demolished by the security authorities since Friday evening.
- Also from the capital Kabul there were reports of minor explosions and wounded. Officials said they wanted to comment on this later, they still collect information.
Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah as favorites
Eighteen candidates are on the ballot and four of them have withdrawn their candidacy. Real chances of winning have the incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and his executive director Abdullah Abdullah. Both cast their votes in polling stations in Kabul. Ghani thanked in a short speech after his vote with the people who went to the polls.
Ghani and Abdullah, after the controversial presidential election of 2014, in which they had already competed against each other, entered into a government of national unity through US mediation.
According to analysts, there are at least 13.5 million eligible voters in Afghanistan. More than 9.6 million Afghans are registered for election. In the second round of the 2014 presidential election, around 8 million people voted.
Lower turnout than expected in 2014
However, due to the poor security situation and disappointment with the government, some Afghan experts believe that only 1.5 million people will vote in this election. Activists close to the Ghani campaign would consider a turnout of 4 to 4.5 million to be successful, wrote the Kabul think tank Afghanistan Analysts Network in a pre-election analysis.
Already since Tuesday, security forces had positioned themselves around the election centers. In most major cities, traffic was suspended or severely restricted for security reasons and additional checkpoints were established. Trucks and light trucks have not been allowed to go to the capital Kabul since Thursday afternoon.
Results in October
The polling stations are open until 3 pm (12.30 pm German time). First preliminary results will be published on 19 October, the official ones on 7 November. Zusammenarbeit No other party than a total of 60% of the weiterbudspot can be said in a ballot -gebox. This would probably take place in late November.
It is the fourth presidential election in the country, with an estimated 35 million inhabitants since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, and the second, conducted and secured entirely by the Afghans themselves.
The election campaign had already been overshadowed by violence. Among other things, the Taliban had carried out a car bomb attack on the office of Vice President candidate and a suicide bomb attack on an election campaign with Ghani. The two incidents killed more than 50 people. Candidates also threatened with protests and violence after the ballot, should there be electoral fraud.
The election is about a month after the termination of talks between the US and the Taliban over ways to peace in Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump had canceled a planned secret meeting with the Taliban after 12 people were killed in an attack in Kabul in early September, including a US soldier. The talks with the Taliban, which should pave the way for a US troop withdrawal and peace in Afghanistan, Trump declared "dead".
