A deadly suicide bombing this week near an election rally in central Afghanistan...
KABUL - A deadly suicide bombing this week near an election rally in central Afghanistan where President Ashraf Ghani was due to speak came as a sharp reminder of the risks to a ballot set for the end of next week in the shadow of failed peace talks.
Despite the rise in bombings, presidential candidates - including Ghani - addressed large public gatherings on Wednesday and Thursday, urging people to cast their vote to defeat the Taliban agenda of circumventing the democratic process. After months of uncertainty while U.S. diplomats sought to hammer out an agreement with the Taliban over withdrawing thousands of troops from Afghanistan, the twice-delayed election is now expected to go ahead on Sept. 28.
“The U.S. ability to focus on Afghan presidential elections has been minimal as they were obsessed with holding talks with the Taliban,” said a Western diplomat, who has been closely tracking political developments in Afghanistan. Marred by accusations of massive fraud on both sides, the 2014 vote left no clear winner, obliging the United States to step in and broker a deal that saw Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah form an unwieldy national unity government.
FILE PHOTO: Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah arrive at the PGE National Stadium, the venue of the NATO Summit, in Warsaw, Poland July 8, 2016. REUTERS/Jerzy Dudek
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