With only three days left until Afghans head to the polls, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on Wednesday that 195,000 Afghan National Police (ANP), National Directorate of Security (NDS) and Afghan National Army (ANA) forces have been deployed to polling centers around the country.
MoD spokesman Zahir Azimi also claimed foreign interests are behind attempts to derail the election process, echoing previous remarks made by other Afghan security officials and politicians in response to the recent surge in violence across the country.
“Up to 195,000 security personnel have been assigned to provide security for the elections and security personnel have been deployed to vulnerable areas," Azimi said. "Our reserve forces are also on red alert and all ANA soldieries are contributing in the security of elections,” said Zahir Azimi
Last week, security officials reported that 748 out of the total 6,770 available polling centers nationwide would be closed on Saturday, a 352-center jump from the original estimate of 396 made by security officials in the spring of last year. However, the current figures makes up only 10 percent of all polling centers, a much smaller portion than was the case in the 2009 presidential election.
Security officials have continuously tried to instill confidence in the precautions being taken and their ability to provide a safe atmosphere for voters. Adding to that chorus of assurances, ANA Commander Mohammad Dawran on Wednesday said the Afghan forces would be bringing out air support on Election Day to ensure ground troops have all the help they need.
“The Air Force is on red alert, and ready to act quickly if an incident happens during the elections," he said.
Defense Ministry spokesman Azimi said security officials are shaping their strategy for Saturday based on past experiences during elections and recent intelligence gathered.
Taliban leaders have publicly stated their intention to use disrupt the elections by any means necessary, including violence against election officials, candidates and voters. Yet the Afghan public has responded defiantly, with a spike in voter registration over the past two weeks.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/195000-ansf-deployed-polling-cente...
