The Hindu : International : High alert ahead of Afghan polls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 09, 2004

International

International

High alert ahead of Afghan polls

KABUL, OCT. 8. More than 100,000 Afghan and foreign security forces were on high alert on Friday, the day before the country's first direct presidential election after more than two decades of war.

Despite a 24-hour flurry of rocket attacks, fears that Taliban or Al-Qaeda fighters would launch a massive assault to disrupt Saturday's polls have not materialised so far. It was welcome news in a country that faces an enormous task in pulling off its first democratic vote.

``Everyone is optimistic that the election will carry forth,'' said Lt. Commander Ken MacKillop, a spokesman for international peacekeepers. ``We have been working very closely with the Afghan police and army to make sure the security environment in Kabul and throughout the country is as saf as possible.''

However, a mix-up between two groups of Afghan forces — each side thought the other were rebels — sparked an hour-long gunbattle that left four soldiers dead and four wounded, a senior official said Friday.

The clash between army troops, who were delivering election material, and militiamen loyal to the Government occurred on Thursday in a Taliban stronghold in southern Helmand province, the Governor Sher Mohammed Akhundzada said.

The troops called in assistance from the U.S. military, but the mistake was realised before American warplanes could intervene.

Also in the south, just outside the city of Kandahar, a bomb sniffing dog at a checkpoint on Friday detected explosives packed into a fuel tanker, U.S. Army Maj. David Flynn said. Early on Friday, a rocket slammed into a parking lot near the U.S. embassy in Kabul, causing no damage or casualties.

— AP

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