At Least 75 Killed As Afghans Await Outcome Of Presidential Election

(New York, NY) - In the aftermath of failed peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban, the terror organization is continuing its relentless barrage of near-daily attacks on Afghanistan’s security forces. On October 22, 2019, the Taliban stormed a checkpoint in Kunduz province. The attack killed at least 15 policemen and wounded another two. The multi-pronged attack on the checkpoint began late the night before and set off an hours-long shootout. The city of Kunduz, the provincial capital, is a strategic crossroads with easy access to much of northern Afghanistan as well as the country’s capital, Kabul. The Taliban now controls nearly half of Afghanistan and has been relentless in its near-daily attacks targeting Afghan security forces.

Further complicating matters is another attack on October 18, 2019, where a number of explosives detonated in a mosque in Deh Bala, eastern Afghanistan. The explosion killed at least 60 people and wounded another 50. The explosives had been stashed under a podium in the main atrium of the mosque where people were praying before they exploded. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Deh Bala borders much of the rural territory held by ISIS’s offshoot in Afghanistan. Although a military offensive cleared ISIS from much of Deh Bala in 2018—and the American military has maintained a small base of Special Forces troops with Afghan commandos in a nearby outpost—the mere presence of ISIS continues to make security in the district difficult.

The continued violence comes as the Afghan presidential election remains undecided. The country’s election commission missed last Saturday’s deadline for announcing initial results, marking nearly a month since the September 28 vote occurred. The Taliban fiercely contested the election and insisted on postponing it before proceeding with negotiations with the Afghan government.

To read the CEP report, Afghanistan: Extremism & Counter-Extremism, please click here.

To read the CEP report, Taliban, please click here.