Kabul, October 24: The Taliban called on Saturday for a boycott of the upcoming run-off in Afghanistan’s presidential election and threatened violence against anyone who participates.
“The Islamic emirate (of Afghanistan) once again informs all the people that no one should participate in this American process and should boycott the process,” said a Taliban statement emailed to AFP.
“The mujahideen are fully prepared to defeat this process,” it said, adding: “Anyone who participates and gets hurt will be responsible for their own losses.”
Afghanistan’s fraud-tainted first-round presidential election on August 20 was hit by a vicious Taliban campaign that has been blamed for keeping turnout below 40 percent.
—Agencies