KABUL, Aug 22: Taliban fighters will not attack polling stations during next month’s election in Afghanistan, a spokesman for the guerillas said on Monday, but he vowed that the war against the government and US forces would go on.
Also on Monday, the US military said US and Afghan government troops had killed more than 100 militants over the past few weeks in aggressive operations aimed at ensuring security for the Sept 18 election.
“We have decided not to target polling stations in civilian areas,” a spokesman for the militant group, Abdul Latif Hakimi, said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
“US and Afghan forces are setting up polling stations in crowded areas which if attacked will cause big losses,” said Hakimi, who government and security officials believe is the main Taliban spokesman.
Despite the violence, Afghan government and US officials say the vote, will not be disrupted.
The Taliban have condemned the election and warned people not to take part but have not threatened to attack polling stations.
A spokesman for NATO-led peacekeepers said he believed the Taliban thought it would be counter-productive to attack the vote, given the amount the Afghan people had invested in the process. A US military spokeswoman referred to the Taliban announcement as a positive step.
Hakimi said Taliban attacks would go on.
“Our movement is not restricted to the polls,” he said. “Our aim is not only to disrupt the elections, our attacks will continue even after the elections.”—Reuters
