Taliban Chop off Fingers of Voters after Afghan Presidential Vote
Taliban militants have chopped off fingers of two voters in southern Afghanistan for voting in presidential election, said Afghan election observers on Saturday. In the meanwhile, the election commission said that 11 of its staffers were killed on polling day.
Nader Nader, Chairman of the Free and Fair Election Foundation, told media persons that enacting their threats, Taliban militants struck at polling sites on polling day and in one case, even punished voters in southern Afghanistan.
“In some instances our observers witnessed the illegal and brutal punishments of the Taliban,” he said. “In one incident for example, unfortunately our observer witnessed the cutting of two fingers of the two voters in Kandahar province.”
For steering clear of multiple voting by a single voter, the electorates were made to dip their fingers into bottle of indelible ink, a step that became portentous for them, for Taliban militant could cozily identify them in volatile southern region.
It may be mentioned that Taliban militants had already issued repeated threats that Afghans stay away from presidential voting, warning that if they participate in balloting their throats would be slit and fingers chopped off.
According to reports, the Taliban fighters conducted more than 130 attacks, including firing dozens of rockets and unleashing numerous suicide bombers on polling sites to disrupt the vote, which was the second in history of the country.
The Independent Election Commission also said that on Saturday that 11 staffers were killed in such attacks on Thursday.
“Regretfully we have learned that eleven staff members of the IEC, who were committed to conduct a free, transparent and fair election in the country after the long preparations for the day of Thursday,” the commission said in a statement.
Afghan security sources already said that 17 security personnel and nine civilians were killed in attacks on the election day, but it was not clear if any of the election staffers were counted among the civilians by security forces.
