Police in northeast Afghanistan prevented two bomb attacks Thursday, as the country started voting in pivotal elections, authorities said.
Afghan police: Election day attacks averted
Tag Archives: polls
Afghans vote in second-ever election
Under the menacing threat of violence from the Taliban, Afghans headed to the polls on Thursday in the war-ravaged nation’s second-ever national election. In parts of the capital Kabul, where recent calm was brutally shattered with a series of bloody attacks leading up to election day, the streets were eerily empty early in the day, save extra security checkpoints. The Taliban has vowed to disrupt the voting and the risk factor may have been too high for some Afghans to leave home on election day
Dozens injured in large blast in Kabul
A suicide bomb rocked the Afghan capital, Kabul, early Saturday, just five days before presidential elections, a defense ministry official told CNN. At least 55 people were wounded, a hospital source said
Troops move to secure southern Afghanistan before vote
Hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have moved into southern Afghanistan to protect citizens during upcoming elections, military officials said. Afghans will go to the polls on August 20 to vote in second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001
Taliban still a major threat 8 years later
It has been nearly eight years since U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan, but the war against the Taliban insurgency is bloodier than ever. The number of Afghan civilians killed in the wake of the war has increased 24 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same time period last year, according to the United Nations.
Iran confirms American hikers arrested for ‘illegal entry’
Iran confirmed Tuesday the arrest of three American hikers who crossed into the country from neighboring Iraq and said they have been charged with "illegal entry," a semi-official news agency reported. The three were arrested in the western Iranian city of Marivan, the deputy governor of Kurdistan province, Iraj Hassanzadeh, told the Fars News Agency. Earlier, Swiss diplomats in Iran and U.S.
Afghan candidate’s bicycle campaign for president
Every morning, Sangin Mohammed Rahmani says goodbye to his wife, gets on his bicycle, and sets out alone on a bumpy, unpaved Kabul road that he hopes will lead him to the presidency. “This is going to be my vehicle to success,” he says, patting his bicycle, as he pushes it down a rutted, garbage-strewn street. “With my bicycle and my mobile phone, I can solve all the problems of the people.” In a crowded field of 41 Afghan men and women running for president in upcoming August 20th elections, Rahmani stands out because of his one-man, bicycle-borne campaign to become commander-in-chief
Afghan challengers target Karzai
In less than three weeks, Afghan voters — still reeling from one of the most violent months since the war on terror started — head to the polls for what some call the country’s first-ever truly contested election. Two candidates, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, have emerged as the top contenders among the dozens hoping to unseat President Hamid Karzai, who has led the country since shortly after the 2001 fall of the Taliban and is seeking re-election.
Three Americans reportedly arrested in Iran
Iranian security forces arrested three Americans, accusing them of illegally entering the country from Iraq’s Kurdish region, Iran’s official Press TV said on Saturday. The network’s Web site quoted a wire story saying the three Americans were backpackers and that a Kurdish official had warned them not to hike in the mountains because of the proximity of the Iranian border. Officials say the case is under investigation, Press TV said
Mauritanian candidate alleges election fraud
A challenger in Mauritania’s presidential election alleged fraud after partial results Sunday showed an ex-junta leader headed for victory. Former Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was leading the nine candidates in early returns, according to the state-run Mauritanian Information Agency