Successful Vote in Afghanistan a Blow to Taliban
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban’s failure to disrupt Afghanistan’s presidential poll last Saturday was evidence that it was weakened, Afghan and American officials said yesterday.
Voters turned out in large numbers for the election despite threats of violence, proving that the ousted regime had lost support, an American commander and an Afghan spokesman said.
For months, the Taliban threatened widespread violence and said the 18 presidential candidates were marked for assassination.
But the threats did not materialize except for skirmishes in southern and eastern provinces where insurgents have been attacking coalition and Afghan soldiers for the last three years. Voters in the 11 million-strong electorate ignored Taliban threats and turned out in large numbers for last Saturday’s poll.
Meanwhile, in northern Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported that engine failure brought down a U.N. helicopter sent to collect ballot boxes from northeastern Afghanistan yesterday. One person was injured when the helicopter crash-landed in a snowy field in the Pamir mountains. It had yet to pick up any ballot boxes.
Also yesterday, an American ambassador said his country is pressing NATO to take over the American-led military mission in Afghanistan, possibly as early as 2005.
