Taliban fighters during a military exercise before “Operation al-Khandagh”
October 20, Afghanistan’s Minister of Interior Wais Barmak told the TOLO TV that different armed groups had carried out 192 attacks throughout Afghanistan in an attempt to sabotage the long-awaited parliamentary elections.
The attacks didn’t stop the election process. However, it resulted in the death of at least 17 civilians and the injury of 83 others. Barmak also revealed that the Afghan National Police lost 10 of its personnel in different attacks, while securing the elections.
The Afghan capital of Kabul witnessed the most brutal attack. Afghan sources reported that a suicide bomber blew himself up outside of a polling station killing 10 civilians and 5 policemen. Despite of the attack, the election process continued in the capital.
In an official statement released by Taliban’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, the Afghan group claimed responsibility for 166 attacks on polling stations and other facilities around the country. Furthermore, Mujahid claimed that the election process had been halted in many regions as a result of these attacks.
“Looking at the operations by the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate up until noon time today, we can confidently say that this electoral process was a merely a regime process with only regime workers participating. The rest of the nation announced a boycott and the Mujahedeen have also been successful in neutralizing the enemy plot,” Mujahid said in the statement.
Despite Taliban attempts to sabotage the elections, the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) stated that approximately 3 million registered voters had cast their ballot, out of supposed 9 million. The number is considered a success considering the situation in the war torn country that delayed the elections for three years. However, the attacks confirm that the Afghan government is still incapable of securing the country on its own.