Afghans vote amid threats, bombings
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban militants determined to scuttle Afghanistan's parliamentary elections showered rockets on cities Saturday as men in tunics and women in blue burqas voted in a key test of the government's ability to fight insurgents and entrenched corruption.
At least two civilians were killed and the governor of Kandahar province survived a bombing in the first nationwide balloting since fraud-marred presidential elections last year undermined international support for President Hamid Karzai.
The balloting measured the capacity of the government — with the help of 140,000 NATO troops — to ensure safe elections and tested the strength of militants who vowed to disrupt them. Observers expected the vote to be far from perfect, but hoped it would be accepted by the Afghan people as legitimate.
About 2,500 candidates were vying for 249 seats in the parliament.
The militants struck with rockets throughout the country — the first one slamming into the capital before dawn, followed by strikes in major eastern and southern cities. A rocket in northern Baghlan province killed two civilians, police spokesman Kamen Khan said. The insurgents also launched scattered attacks on polling stations.
Afghan security officials dismissed the attacks as "insignificant," and said they did not hamper voting, adding that 92 percent of polling stations were open.
"There are no reports of major incidents," Afghan Election Commission Chairman Fazel Ahmad Manawi told reporters.
There were some reports of voting irregularities and turnout nationwide appeared spotty, though the level of violence seemed lower than during last year's presidential poll, when more than 30 civilians and more than a dozen Afghan security forces were killed.
Electoral officials said they have no separate process for determining turnout ahead of the counting of the ballots. The first partial tallies are expected early next week. Full preliminary results are not expected until the end of the month and final results in late October.
In the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in the south, voters ventured out in small groups despite rocket strikes and bomb blasts. One bomb targeted the convoy of Gov. Tooryalai Wesa as it drove between voting centers but no one was injured, police officer Abdul Manan said.
Wesa still urged Kandaharis to come out and vote.
"The situation is under control," he said. "There's nothing to be afraid of. The enemy wants the election to fail, so if you want the insurgents out of your land, you'll have to come out and vote."
Voters even lined up in the Zhari district, west of Kandahar city, where Taliban leader Mullah Omar's radical Islamic movement was born 16 years ago. Hundreds of Afghan and international troops secured the area.
"People are fed up with the Taliban, that's why they're coming out more and more, so they can get rid of the Taliban," businessman Saleh Naeem said.
The Taliban had warned they would target anyone voting or working at the polls.
In Nangarhar's troubled Surkh Rud district, the Taliban prevented two voting centers from opening until late morning, when NATO and Afghan forces routed the insurgents.
