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67 Afghanis Killed, 126 Injured on Saturday Election Day, Three Killed on Monday, Including NATO Soldier, American General Injured

October 23, 2018

 

Security forces block the main road at the site of a suicide attack during the first day of parliamentary election in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018

 

NATO Soldier Killed, Two Wounded in Afghanistan Insider Attack

Radio Free Europe, 23 Oct 2018, 13:07 GMT+10

A soldier in the NATO-led Resolute Support mission was killed and two others wounded on October 22 by an apparent insider attack in the western province of Herat.

A statement from the NATO mission's headquarters in Kabul said: 'Initial reports indicate the attack was committed by a member of the Afghan security forces."

The Czech military said the slain soldier was from the Czech Republic. It said the two wounded soldiers were taken to the Bagram military hospital and their injuries were not life-threatening.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mailed statement.

It was the latest in a series of attacks in which Afghan forces have turned their weapons on international troops with whom they are working.

On October 18, a gunman wearing a uniform of the Afghan security forces opened fire on a gathering of security chiefs in Kandahar that included the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller.

Although three people were killed -- including the powerful provincial police chief in Kandahar, General Abdul Raziq -- Miller was not injured.

But U.S. Brigadier General Jeffrey Smiley was among 13 people wounded in that attack.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpa

US brigadier general wounded Thursday in Afghanistan attack

By Ryan Browne, CNN

 Mon October 22, 2018

Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley, who oversees the NATO military advisory mission in southern Afghanistan, was wounded in the Thursday insider attack that took place in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

"I can confirm that he is recovering from a gunshot wound he received during the attack in Kandahar," Navy Cdr. Grant Neeley, a spokesman for the NATO Resolute Support mission, told CNN Sunday. Smiley, the commander of Train, Advise, Assist and Command -- South, is based in Kandahar. He is being treated for the wound and is still in charge of the command. Previously, the NATO-led coalition had identified the two Americans wounded in the attack as a military service member and a civilian government employee.

Two Afghan officials, including the police chief of Kandahar province, were killed in the Thursday incident. Read More close dialog Receive Fareed Zakaria's Global Analysis including insights and must-reads of world news Please enter above By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Thanks For Subscribing Please check your inbox to confirm your signup close dialog Gen. Scott Miller, the head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, drew his sidearm during the attack, according to a coalition member with direct knowledge of what happened. Miller did not fire. The Washington Post was first to report Smiley's being wounded.

CNN previously reported that the Taliban released a statement claiming responsibility, saying the group killed "the notorious police chief" who was their primary target in the attack. The shooter was killed by the US military, one official said Thursday. The violence came as people went to the polls this weekend to vote in Afghanistan's parliamentary election.

CNN's Eli Watkins contributed to this report.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/21/politics/us-general-smiley-afghanistan/index.html

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Afghanistan fears more violence, dozens dead on polling day

By Sheetal Sukhija, Afghanistan News 21 Oct 2018, 20:56 GMT+10

KABUL, Afghanistan -

Despite a threat of violent attacks, thousands of Afghans bravely headed to the polls on Saturday to make a decision on the leadership of the war-torn country.

While Afghans voted across 401 polling centres in the country, the insurgent group that had been making plans to target the elections, delivered on its vow.

Taliban, which had labelled the country's parliamentary elections a "malicious American conspiracy designed to tighten the U.S. grip on Afghanistan" carried out a total of 193 attacks.

On Saturday, as the country voted in the polls that were delayed by three years, Taliban reportedly carried out 193 attacks across polling centres, leaving 67 people dead and 126 others injured through the day. 

Officials said that of the 67 people killed in different attacks on Saturday, nine were members of the security forces, 27 were civilians and 31 were insurgents.

Further, 126 people were injured in the 193 attacks carried out across the country. 

According to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior, 70,000 soldiers and police officers had been deployed across the country, to provide security during Saturday’s election.

At a press conference, Afghanistan's Deputy Interior Minister Akhtar Mohammad Ibrahimi revealed details of the attacks that took place on Saturday and said that the 193 attacks against security forces and polling centres began at around 7 am and continued until at least 6 pm. 

According to the statement released by Ibrahimi, through the day, 76 raids took place at polling centres throughout the country.

The attacks also included a deadly suicide blast in Kabul, a dozen explosions near polling centres and armed fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces.

He confirmed in the statement that the attacks in a single day had led to 27 civilian deaths and 100 people suffering serious injuries. 

Ibrahimi added that nine members of the security forces died and 25 were injured.

He further confirmed that the attacks also saw 31 Taliban insurgents being killed and 18 being arrested.

However, Taliban, which had called on voters to abandon the polls, repeated its statement on Saturday and vowed more bloodshed.

A Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi disputed the figures released by the government and said that the group had carried out 400 attacks, in which “dozens of soldiers and police were killed or injured.”

Declaring “the elections failed," another Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, "Enemy’s polling stations all over the country are under attack by Mujahideen, countrymen must refrain from taking part in this fake process to save their lives and not to become a tool for the implementation of the evil plans of the enemy."

Meanwhile, the Afghan presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansori described the elections as a “success” and a “defeat for terrorists."

Further, the Afghan Deputy Interior Minister pointed out that the number of attacks on Saturday represent half of those that took place in 2014 during the presidential elections.

Security challenges, along with political and economic instability forced the elections in the country to be delayed since 2015. 

Further, the elections are crucial in the war torn country as it will test the state of Afghanistan’s fragile democracy, and prove to decide the course for the presidential elections that are set to take place in April 2019.

Meanwhile, as voting resumed in 401 polling centres on Sunday, fears of more bloodshed were high. 

In addition, officials from the Independent Election Commission (IEC) told reporters late on Saturday that "inevitable" problems with biometric verification devices, as well as missing voter registration lists and lack of staffing delayed or even prevented voting at some polling sites.

IEC's initial figures showed that compared to nearly nine million registered voters, only around three million voters turned up at 4,500 polling centres.

IEC also confirmed that elections in Ghazni and Kandahar provinces had been postponed.

The commission also said that the final results of Saturday's voting will not be available until later in December.

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