Mazar-I-Sharif: Taliban militants ambushed a truck carrying ballot papers counted after
Afghanistan's elections, setting fire to the vehicle and killing an election worker, police said Friday.
The attack happened just outside Mazar-i-Sharif, the
capital of northern Afghanistan, considered relatively
peaceful compared with parts of the south, late yesterday in
the hours after the country's second presidential poll.
"A jeep and a truck were on their way from Siagird
village after counting finished and were carrying ballot boxes
to Mazar-i-Sharif," said Abdul Raouf Taj, deputy police chief
for northern Balkh province.
"They were attacked by Taliban. A rocket-propelled
grenade (RPG) was fired into the truck, which set the truck
ablaze and killed a worker in charge of the voting centre, Mir
Ayamuddin," added Taj.
The Election Commission announced earlier that
insurgent attacks had killed 11 election workers involved in
organising yesterday's elections.
"Unfortunately, we have reports that 11 workers of the
commission who were committed to conducting transparent,
successful elections in the country have been killed since the
start of preparations until Thursday," it said.
Nearly 120,500 Afghans were drafted in to organise the
presidential and provincial council elections yesterday which
the Taliban vowed to disrupt.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, August 21, 2009, 19:12