*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - July 27, 2009: Spiralling Taliban attacks and record Western military deaths have put Afghanistan on edge less than four weeks before key elections that many fear could be overshadowed by violence. 
An Afghan farmer watches as US marines head to the site of a blast in Garmsir district of Helmand Province.
The August 20 presidential vote, only the second in Afghan history, is seen as a crucial test in the nearly eight-year effort led by the United States and NATO to stabilise Afghanistan since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban.
Thousands of newly deployed foreign troops have flooded into southern Afghanistan to try to wrest back Taliban strongholds, but the resulting surge in soldiers' deaths has created a backlash in Western nations.
Violence has spread in the east and north, while coordinated suicide attacks in three Afghan cities killed six people last week, underscoring the vulnerability of the government as the clock ticks to nationwide polls.
"There are major security issues again in southern Afghanistan, in eastern Afghanistan," said Haroun Mir, analyst from the Afghanistan Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Kabul.
"Suicide bombs which happened in Paktia and in Jalalabad, these are indications that indeed there are some elements either from Al-Qaeda or the Taliban that want to disrupt the elections." The independent http://www.icasualties.org/, which calculates military losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, records 67 troop deaths so far in July, the highest monthly toll since the US-led invasion followed the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Britain, whose apparent equipment and helicopter shortages have sparked fierce debate at home, has encountered some of the deadliest combat, while US military fatalities are also at record levels this month.
There are currently about 90,000 foreign troops -- mainly US, British and Canadian -- deployed in Afghanistan on a mission to stabilise the country, and more are flooding in to try and secure restive areas ahead of the polls.
About 4,000 US Marines and 3,000 British troops, backed by hundreds of Afghan forces, have battled behind Taliban lines in the south for weeks.
But even in districts recently secured by foreign forces, officials worry there is little time to prepare for voting in the presidential and provincial elections held together on August 20.
"For a long time this area was under the control of the Taliban," Afghanistan's counter-narcotics minister General Khodaidad told AFP on a trip to southern Helmand province's Garmsir district.
"We have very little time. We should have started this operation one year ago... I think it will be difficult to have people take part at the polling stations, especially in volatile parts of the country."
While the Taliban and other insurgent groups have made no specific threat against the polls, attacks are intensifying.
On Saturday, seven suicide bombers tried to blow themselves up at state and security targets in the eastern city of Khost.
Although most were shot dead by security forces, one civilian was killed and the attacks will likely further unnerve Afghans already concerned about their security on polling day.
Similar commando suicide raids struck the eastern cities of Gardez and Jalalabad on Tuesday, also claimed by the Taliban, and Afghan officials warn that militant violence is seeping into the previously peaceful north.
Rear Admiral Greg Smith, spokesman for the commander of foreign troops here General Stanley McChrystal, told AFP the rising military deaths were linked to increased troop activity, but said rebels could take advantage of the polls.
"We said all along we expect insurgents will use this election period as a means to communicate their intent -- they don't want this government to succeed, they don't want people to have the right to vote," he said.
He said Afghan forces were "doing everything they can" to ensure security on polling day, but analyst Mir was not so confident.
"There will be 7,000 voting centres in Afghanistan and I think neither the Afghan government and coalition forces have enough personnel to provide security for each of these voting stations," he told AFP.
The consequences, he said, will be that people stay away from the polls, or the legitimacy of the ballot will be called into question with election monitors also scarce.
An Afghan farmer watches as US marines head to the site of a blast in Garmsir district of Helmand Province.
The August 20 presidential vote, only the second in Afghan history, is seen as a crucial test in the nearly eight-year effort led by the United States and NATO to stabilise Afghanistan since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban.
Thousands of newly deployed foreign troops have flooded into southern Afghanistan to try to wrest back Taliban strongholds, but the resulting surge in soldiers' deaths has created a backlash in Western nations.
Violence has spread in the east and north, while coordinated suicide attacks in three Afghan cities killed six people last week, underscoring the vulnerability of the government as the clock ticks to nationwide polls.
"There are major security issues again in southern Afghanistan, in eastern Afghanistan," said Haroun Mir, analyst from the Afghanistan Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Kabul.
"Suicide bombs which happened in Paktia and in Jalalabad, these are indications that indeed there are some elements either from Al-Qaeda or the Taliban that want to disrupt the elections." The independent http://www.icasualties.org/, which calculates military losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, records 67 troop deaths so far in July, the highest monthly toll since the US-led invasion followed the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Britain, whose apparent equipment and helicopter shortages have sparked fierce debate at home, has encountered some of the deadliest combat, while US military fatalities are also at record levels this month.
There are currently about 90,000 foreign troops -- mainly US, British and Canadian -- deployed in Afghanistan on a mission to stabilise the country, and more are flooding in to try and secure restive areas ahead of the polls.
About 4,000 US Marines and 3,000 British troops, backed by hundreds of Afghan forces, have battled behind Taliban lines in the south for weeks.
But even in districts recently secured by foreign forces, officials worry there is little time to prepare for voting in the presidential and provincial elections held together on August 20.
"For a long time this area was under the control of the Taliban," Afghanistan's counter-narcotics minister General Khodaidad told AFP on a trip to southern Helmand province's Garmsir district.
"We have very little time. We should have started this operation one year ago... I think it will be difficult to have people take part at the polling stations, especially in volatile parts of the country."
While the Taliban and other insurgent groups have made no specific threat against the polls, attacks are intensifying.
On Saturday, seven suicide bombers tried to blow themselves up at state and security targets in the eastern city of Khost.
Although most were shot dead by security forces, one civilian was killed and the attacks will likely further unnerve Afghans already concerned about their security on polling day.
Similar commando suicide raids struck the eastern cities of Gardez and Jalalabad on Tuesday, also claimed by the Taliban, and Afghan officials warn that militant violence is seeping into the previously peaceful north.
Rear Admiral Greg Smith, spokesman for the commander of foreign troops here General Stanley McChrystal, told AFP the rising military deaths were linked to increased troop activity, but said rebels could take advantage of the polls.
"We said all along we expect insurgents will use this election period as a means to communicate their intent -- they don't want this government to succeed, they don't want people to have the right to vote," he said.
He said Afghan forces were "doing everything they can" to ensure security on polling day, but analyst Mir was not so confident.
"There will be 7,000 voting centres in Afghanistan and I think neither the Afghan government and coalition forces have enough personnel to provide security for each of these voting stations," he told AFP.
The consequences, he said, will be that people stay away from the polls, or the legitimacy of the ballot will be called into question with election monitors also scarce.
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