The Taliban have released a statement vowing to disrupt Afghanistan’s parliamentary election. Branding the long-delayed ballot as a symbolic process and a tool to ensure what they called the continuation of the foreign occupation of the country, the militant group has called on its fighters to block or scuttle election across the country, and target all those involved to support or make the process a success in one way or another.
Election is a people-driven process in which masses participate. From electioneering to voting, the majority of people involved in the process are civilian. Even those working for the electoral commissions are not permanent employees and are only serving during election in return for a low wage. The involvement of many ordinary people in election campaigns is also due to financial problems facing them. Participation in election campaigns is the only option they have at hand because they have long been unable to find jobs despite having higher education.
Taking into consideration the fact that election is a hectic process, the Taliban warning is dangerous. Although they have advised their fighters to pay attention to the protection of civilian lives, it largely seems impractical. If election targets are struck, not only will it be impossible to prevent casualties to Afghan civilians, but also even many of the victims will be civilians. For an instance, if a polling center or an election gathering is attacked, the target may only be the security forces manning that areas, but the victims will only be voters or supporters of candidates who are ordinary Afghans. The government should take the Taliban threat seriously, and pay serious attention to the security of all people involved in the election process.
The security of voters, candidates and their supporters should be a high priority for the government, especially now as the main militant group has vowed to target them. Even small mistakes of the security apparatus during election can lead to major tragedies because the vast majority of the participants of this process are unarmed Afghans who are not able to defend themselves.
