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Taliban may hit road, rail to disrupt polls: NATO general
Mons, Belgium (AFP) June 22, 2009 Taliban-led insurgents are likely to block transport routes and use intimidation rather than suicide attacks to disrupt the elections in August, NATO's top military commander warned Monday. "I'm sure there will be attempts by the insurgents, the Taliban, to interfere with the polling" on August 20, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe John Craddock said at his headquarters in Mons, southern Belgium. "I'm certain they could be successful in some" respects, he told reporters, adding that "nothing will be perfect", despite the security plan organised by NATO-led, US and Afghan forces. Craddock said the Taliban, and their backers among Al-Qaeda and criminal gangs, "will try to interdict the movements along the roads and railways," and that he expects "intimidation in form of letters, of threats." All efforts must be made "to keep those line of communications open," he said. The polls, for president and provincial councils, are seen as a litmus test of international efforts to help spread democracy in Afghanistan, but they come as Taliban-led violence has reached record highs there. Thousands of mostly US troops are moving in to provide security for the elections and to reinforce the turbulent south, a Taliban stronghold. Craddock noted that despite the level of violence, suicide bombings were on the decline. "The fact is suicide bombers will kill innocent civilians. So when it's done ... that could have downside," by undermining any support for the Taliban. The fundamentalist militia was ousted from power in Afghanistan by a US-led coalition in late 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden and elements of his Al-Qaeda network. Afghan officials and experts have said the Taliban might choose not to launch so many attacks -- as happened earlier this year during voter registration -- in an effort to regain some political legitimacy. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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