Surge in Afghan militancy worries UN, Afghans

Violent upsurge in Taliban-led militancy over the past couple of weeks ahead of the Afghan parliamentary polls has worried the United Nations, the main sponsor of electoral process, as well as Afghans in the post- Taliban nation.

The militants in new spate of violence have slaughtered 16 people including three parliamentary candidates and a British engineer in the volatile southern provinces since last week.

"Absolutely, security remains a paramount concern for the UN. Yes, it is a matter of concern," Adrian Edwards the spokesman of UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) told Xinhua.

Remnants of the former fundamentalist regime who failed to derail the last year's presidential elections have vowed to disrupt the coming landmark Sept. 18 legislative polls.

Afghans particularly candidates are concerned over the spiraling insurgency in certain parts of the country.

"Government has failed to eliminate terrorism and ensure security for its citizens," politician and poll candidate Ahmad Shaheen opined while referring to the increasing insurgency in the southern parts of the country.

Backing the notion, another politician, Hamayon Kazimi, said intimidation and security incidents forced some candidates to stay indoors instead of campaigning on streets.

Taliban's chief Mullah Mohammad Omar has termed the elections as a "toll to legitimize the US occupation of Afghanistan" and called upon his followers to derail it by any possible means.

The one-eyed patron-in-chief of the radical movement also urged Afghans to reject the elections by boycotting registration process.

However, the war-weary Afghans by registering more than 12 million voters denied Taliban's appeal and angered the militias.

Meanwhile, Taliban, which described candidates and those support the elections as legitimate target, has announced not to launch attacks on the elections day in order not to harm common civilians while do their best to sabotage it.

"The election would go ahead as per schedule. There is no question of postponement. This is a massive election, so security is a concern," UNAMA's spokesman noted.

The special envoy of UN Secretary General, Jean Arnault, added that was why he had gone to New York to brief the UN Security Council on security situation in Afghanistan.

To provide security for the elections, the Afghan and US troops have begun joint crackdown on militants weeks ago and the troops in their latest achievement killed 13 militants and detained more than 40 others over the weekend from Taliban's former stronghold Kandahar in south Afghanistan. The operation, according to US military is still going on to root out the rebels from the region.

Some 12.4 million Afghans eligible to vote would go to polling stations on Sept. 18 to elect their representatives from among over 5,000 candidates for the 249-seat parliament amid tight security.

More than 20,000-strong US-dominated coalition troops and over 10,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) in conjunction with some 50,000 Afghan army and police have been assigned to ensure security for the coming elections.

Source: Xinhua