No security guarantees for 259 polling centres

KABUL): Independent Election Commission Secretary Ziaul Haq Amarkhel on Tuesday said the poll panel had not been assured so far security for 259 polling centres.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News security organs, after spending five months on assessing the situation, had told them insurgents were in control of areas where the polling centres were located.

He said these centres were located in Kunar, Nuristan, Kapisa, Maidan Wardak, Parwan, Sar-i-Pul, Zabul, Badakhshan, Helmand, Ghazni, Herat and Farah provinces.

Amarkhel added in the previous elections, they had 500 insecure polling centres, urging the authorities concerned to try to reduce the number of polling sites under threat.

He asked the security institutions to provide a written guarantee of protection for the remaining polling stations to the election commission and the countrymen.

Amarkhel believed the security organs should continue their assessment and share details with the IEC at the end of every month to know whether the number of insecure polling stations had increased or decreased.

The official said no one should be deprived of their right to vote on the pretext of insecurity and if relevant organs could not maintain security perennially, they should do it at least for a couple of weeks.

A day earlier, the Interior Ministry said it had handed over security plans for next year’s elections to the IEC. A spokesman for the ministry said it had assured adequate security for 6,845 polling centers.

ma/mud

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