Attackers hit voter sites

2004-06-07 10:52

Kabul - Violent weekend attacks against UN workers and government officials have renewed fears for Afghanistan's landmark democratic polls this year, as voter registration sites were open across the whole country for the first time on Monday.

The latest violence comes as US soldiers fight an escalating insurgency in the south and southeast, mountainous regions believed to be hosting a permanent Taliban presence.

UN staff working on the elections survived a bold attack in southeastern Paktia province on Sunday when militants attempted to ambush their four-vehicle convoy with two landmines and followed up with small-arms fire.

The 15 international and Afghan staff, who were being escorted by armed police, were unharmed.

Britons shot dead

The incident is the most serious since two Britons working on security for the polls were beaten and shot dead with their Afghan interpreter in eastern Nuristan a month ago.

While it is not known who is responsible for the attacks, remnants of the Taliban regime have threatened to disrupt the elections scheduled for September and warned Afghans against working with the electoral process.

Voter registration sites were open in each of Afghanistan's 34 provinces on Monday after a small number of booths started work in southeastern Paktika province.

The main phase of voter registration began on May 1 but several provinces were initially excluded because of security concerns. So far about 3.065 million Afghans have registered to vote, about one-third of them women.

However electoral officials have raised concerns about the uneven geographical distribution of voters, with only a small proportion coming from the troubled south and southeast.

The US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai has stressed that elections will go ahead in September as planned, but fears have been raised that the polls might be hurt by the ongoing insurgency and funding problems.

The presidential and parliamentary polls are projected to cost around $101m but despite large pledges, the United Nations, which is helping to organise the vote, has so far no received no money to pay for the elections.

Not a penny in the bank

While the international community has pledged some $70m, "not one penny is in the bank," UN spokesperson Manoel de Almeida e Silva said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, violent attacks show no signs of abating. In addition to the attack on the UN convoy on Sunday, suspected Taliban killed a policeman in a three-hour attack on a government headquarters in eastern Logar province.

The same day, three troops were injured in an attack in in Hazar Buz valley, 330km southwest of Kabul.

And in southeastern Khost, which borders Pakistan, two students were injured by an explosion on Sunday at an Islamic religious school.

The weekend of violence followed the shocking deaths of three European and two Afghans aid workers with Medecins Sans Frontieres, who were killed last week by suspected Taliban.

- AFP