Seventh Election Candidate Killed by Taliban

16/09/2005| IslamWeb

Suspected Taliban fighters have shot dead a candidate for Afghanistan's landmark parliamentary elections, the seventh candidate to be killed before the weekend poll, a provincial official said.

Armed men forced Abdul Hadi out of his house in Hazarjoft, a district in the restive southern province of Helmand, and gunned him down late on Thursday, provincial spokesman Mohammed Wali said on Friday.

Afghan officials frequently use this term to refer to fighters from the Taliban government, which was ousted by US-led forces and Afghan militias in late 2001.

The killing came a day before the Taliban called on Afghanistan's 12.5 million voters to boycott Sunday's elections, which they called an American plot.

They also warned Afghans they could be hurt in attacks on foreign troops if they vote.

The Taliban previously said they would not target polling stations, but their spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said that if Afghans were to vote they would do so at their own risk.

He said the fighters would target foreign occupation troops on election day, and these attacks could hurt ordinary Afghans.

"The Taliban shura council appeals to the Afghan people not to take part in the September 18 elections as this election farce is also an American plan," he said, referring to the insurgents' council of clerics.

"Therefore, not only should the Afghan people stay away from the elections, they should also try to sabotage them," he said.

"If the Afghan people go to the polling stations for voting, they would themselves be responsible for any damage caused to them. However, the Taliban will try to ensure that only foreign troops are targeted and that the Afghan people remain safe."

On Thursday, US President George Bush telephoned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to say that he was "delighted" with the preparations for the polls, which are being funded by the international community.

But Human Rights Watch on Thursday said the elections were taking place in a "climate of fear" after a series of attacks and criticised what it said were rights abusers among the candidates.

The Afghan government said on Thursday it was deploying 100,000 troops and police for the polls.

There are also around 20,000 US troops and 11,000 Nato-led peacekeeping soldiers helping to maintain security

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghan workers load election materials to be carried to polling stations from an election counting center in Kabul, Afghanistan Friday, Sept. 16, 2005. Afghanistan will hold parliamentary. (AP)