Taliban says to prevent Afghan presidential poll, despite reconciliation talks

Aya Ezz

Afghanistan expects to hold its presidential election on September 28.

Nevertheless, the election is threatened by the Taliban. The militant movement has threatened to attack polling stations, considering the election to be “deceptive”.

The movement said in a statement that the Afghan government controls only a small part of Afghan territories.

It added that the election would take place in a limited number of cities, referring to boycott by the majority of eligible voters.

“The election is only an expression of the interests of a handful of politicians,” the movement said in the statement. “There is no use holding this election which will only cause the squander of money.”

It said it would use force to prevent the election and called on eligible voters not to participate in the election.

The movement also called on citizens not to attend the electoral conferences to be held by presidential candidates.

It said the occupiers of Afghanistan use these candidates in order to increase their influence in the country.

“We will prevent election campaigns from taking place,” the Taliban said. “We call on citizens to stay away from the conferences of the candidates.”

The new ultimatum comes hard on the heels of an eighth round of talks between the Taliban and the US in Doha early last week.

Special US representative for Afghan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, wrote on Twitter his talks with the Taliban in Doha focused on possible reconciliation with the movement.

An agreement, he added, would allow the US to pull its troops out of Afghanistan.

He referred to progress in the talks in this regard.

Khalilzad noted that he would maintain the talks with the Taliban to reach an agreement.

Taliban Spokesman Suhail Shaheen also referred to progress in talks with the US.

“We are about to discuss the final points and will sign an agreement soon,” he said.

Islamist affairs specialist Khaled al-Zaafarani underscored the importance of the presidential election for Afghanistan’s stability.

“Stability will reflect positively on the aspired peace agreement,” al-Zaafarani said.

He referred to discrepancy in Taliban’s position on the election. He said the movement accuses the US of manipulating things in Afghanistan, but at the same time holds talks with it in Doha.

“The fact is that all terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, are against peaceful political action,” al-Zaafarani said. “These organizations consider democracy to be a sacrilege.”