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| Afghanistan/South Asia | |
| Violence claims nine in Afghanistan, JEMB satisfied with polls | |
| 2005-09-19 | |
A French and two Afghan soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan Sunday, mounting the death toll in poll-related violence to nine.
In a separate incident in the eastern Kunar province, two Afghan soldiers were killed and five others wounded when a landmine flipped over their vehicle in the remote Nuristan province on Sunday. Officials confirmed the attack but confessed the killing of one soldier. However, residents and independent sources said two soldiers were killed in the explosion that hit the military vehicle delivering ballot boxes to a polling centre in Kamdesh district. In Kunar, residents said a team of armed tribal youths assigned with guarding the polls, was attacked. Two of the youths were wounded but official did not confirm the attack. Meanwhile, the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) denied the closure of more than 1,400 polling stations in remote areas of the country for a number of reasons, including forced closure by Taliban, non-delivery of polling material and non-arrival of security personnel in those areas. Although small number of voters visited the polling stations in Kabul with a number of complaints regarding stoppage of voting in the outskirts, JEMB officials said they were satisfied with the polling and expected turn out. In an exclusive interview with KUNA, Bronwyn Curran, spokeswoman for the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), body responsible for organizing the elections, said only nine polling centres remained closed in Daikundi, Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces. Earlier, addressing a news conference, operation chief of the joint UN-Afghan body Peter Erben said voting remained smooth and peaceful all over Afghanistan. Asked about the closure of some polling centres, Erben said the centres were not opened following intelligence reports that explosive devices had been planted near them. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Yeah, but we can trust them, 2b. They're not Republicans, who are inherently non-trustworthy. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-09-19 09:20 |
| #1 Why...it's an unofficial quaqmire! I blame George Bush. However, the coalition forces spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore did not confirm the report. When approached for comments, Moore referred the caller to French Embassy in Kabul. However, there was no one to confirm the incident. A senior police officer in Kandahar, when pressed for comments, confirmed the attack and admitted that a French soldier had been perished in a separate incident two afghan soldiers killed, five wounded ... but ....Officials confirmed the attack but confessed the killing of one soldier. In Kunar.... Two of the youths were wounded but official did not confirm the attack JEMB) denied the closure of more than 1,400 polling stations in remote areas of the country for a number of reasons, including forced closure by Taliban, non-delivery of polling material and non-arrival of security personnel in those areas. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-09-19 07:39 |