The Taliban on Monday warned Afghans against taking part in the upcoming presidential election and ordered their fighters to “use all force” possible to disrupt the polling in the militant group’s first formal threat of violence over the April 5 vote.
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement emailed to media that the Taliban are also telling clerics across to country to spread the word that the election is “an American conspiracy.”
The April vote is seen as key to Afghanistan’s stability ahead of the final withdrawal of international combat troops at the end of December. Previous elections have been fraught with allegations of widespread fraud and some surveys have shown a deep mistrust among most Afghans toward the polling and candidates. President Hamid Karzai is not in the race since he cannot run for a third term.
Monday’s Taliban statement told Afghans they should “reject completely” the election and not put themselves in danger by going to the polls.
Mujahid did not specify what kind of attacks the Taliban planned but in the 2009 presidential election, the militants assaulted and killed election workers, targeted candidates and also attacked voters, in some cases cutting people’s fingers off.
“We have given orders to all our mujahedeen (holy warriors) to use all force at their disposal to disrupt these upcoming sham election to target all its workers, activists, callers, security apparatus and offices,” the statement said.
It also warned the government against using public buildings, such as mosques and schools, for polling.
The Taliban statement was expected and it followed several election-related attacks since the start of the election campaign, CTV news informs.
