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Police officers at a crossing point in Kabul, October 19, 2018, watch the legislative elections. REUTERS / Omar Sobhani
Saturday is a voting day in Afghanistan for nearly 9 million voters who must renew the 249 seats in the Afghan Parliament. A high voltage poll, the Taliban have warned they would attack the polling stations and government forces. More than 50,000 law enforcement personnel have been deployed in the country to ensure the security of the polling centers. Reportage in a polling station of the Afghan capital.
With our correspondent in Kabul, Sonia Ghezali
The turquoise blue portal of the Zarghona girls' school keeps opening and closing to let the cars of the various units of the Afghan security forces.
A police car is parked in the yard, the police officers on the spot stand at attention. General Sayed Saboor has just arrived:
" I am responsible for controlling all the polling stations in the borough," he says. I came here to control security on the site and also the police officers who are there . "
The portal opens again. A white armored jeep enters. These are the intelligence services. Exchanges follow with the neighborhood police chief who arrives a few minutes later.
The general leaves, apparently reassured. " I think there is no risk for voters because we have taken security measures to respond to threats. "
Shamsia, who lives in western Kabul, crosses the city every day to go to the polling station:
" We live with threats and we can not stop living because of threats, we are used to, " she sighs. It must not stop us from working, we must continue to live. "
The young woman accepts the risks, she said, confident that she had to convince her family, very worried, to let her continue her work as an electoral agent.
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