KABUL, Sept 12: Afghanistan’s electoral watchdog on Monday barred 28 more candidates from this week’s elections, mostly for links to armed groups, but said the vote remained on track despite security concerns.

It brings the total number of candidates disqualified from Sunday’s legislative election to 45, although none is among the high-profile warlords accused by rights groups of abuses in the past.

“The ECC is announcing the disqualification of an additional 28 candidates,” commission president Grant Kippen told a news conference in Kabul. “Twenty-one have been found having links with illegal armed groups.”

Fifteen of the candidates were standing for provincial councils across Afghanistan and 30 for the country’s new national assembly. Sunday’s elections are for both.

The list included former Taliban commander Qumandan Didar in Kabul and three major commanders from northern Baghlan province, but omitted many other militia commanders with known track records of human rights violations.

In early July, Afghanistan’s electoral complaints commission drew up a blacklist of 208 candidates who were to be excluded from the polls for their ties to illegal armed groups.

But when the printed ballot sheet appeared a week later, only 11 of the candidates had actually been blocked by the commission — which said the remaining 197 had either disarmed or pledged to do so.

The newly-disqualified 28 will remain on ballot papers, the commission added, which could cause confusion among Afghanistan’s predominantly illiterate voters.

Monday’s move to exclude more militia commanders from the vote came as electoral officials said troops have yet to reach some parts of Afghanistan ahead of the election — the first parliamentary poll here in three dacades.

One district said it might have to cancel voting because of security fears.

Peter Erben, head of the joint UN-Afghan Electoral Management Body, told reporters there were a number of districts where security forces had not yet been deployed.

“Last year, there were a number of districts where the vote did not take place. This year we hope we can do it in all of them,” Mr Erben said.

The remote, northeastern province of Nuristan said security was deteriorating in one district bordering Pakistan and they would have to cancel polling unless the government sent more troops.

“Unless the government sends us reinforcements from Kabul we will not be able to conduct the elections in Kamdesh district,” a spokesman said.—AFP