KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Military leaders from throughout southern Afghanistan gathered Tuesday to review their plan to secure the most dangerous region of the country for the upcoming elections.
Afghans go to the polls Aug. 20 to elect their president and provincial council members, and the military might gathered at the main Afghan National Army base in Kandahar has no small task ahead.
"The world is watching," Ali Kazai, chief of the Independent Election Commission in Kandahar province, told the Afghan army and police chiefs, and international military brass including Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, commander of Canada's Task Force Kandahar.
"This is a very critical moment for us and we're in the final days before election day."
With just over two weeks until voting day, the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan has said that security officials are not sure if voting can take place in about 700 of the 7,000 polling centres they have planned. Most of them are in the south, where insurgent bombings and attacks have been on the increase already this year.
Kazai said Afghans have suffered for a long time and are now eager to cast their ballots but the country is at war, and just getting to the polls poses a major challenge for many Afghans.
The Taliban have staged several co-ordinated bombing and ambush attacks throughout the country in recent weeks, and on Tuesday launched nine rockets into the relative security of the capital city of Kabul.
"When we talk about an election in Afghanistan, the most volatile area is (Regional Command South)," said Afghan National Army Gen. Shir Mohammed Zazai, commander of the national forces in Kandahar and neighbouring Uruzgan, Helmand and Zabul provinces.
Zazai said Afghans will go out and vote if they have confidence that it's safe.
"We have to assure the public that we are present in every polling station and we are there to protect them," Zazai told the military brass.
"We have to make sure that people will go to the polling centres without any fear, without any intimidation."
The vote poses a challenge for international forces.
The election is to be Afghan-led, from delivery of ballots to providing security. The Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police are to take the lead in securing the polls.
There is pressure on international forces not to be seen to be influencing the vote, yet there are questions as to whether the Afghan army and the fledgling police have made enough progress under international military mentoring to handle the massive task ahead.
The election commission has made a point of saying international military forces may be asked to respond to serious incidents on election day.
Afghan army Gen. Abdul Bashir Salizai, commander of Afghan troops in Kandahar province, said security in the capital city is very good, and the situation has improved throughout the province. Afghan and international forces have taken back control of some districts in the hands of the Taliban, he said.
"We've prepared our guys. They're ready," he told reporters.
Even in the volatile Zhari and Panjwaii districts west of Kandahar city, where Canadian forces have been in pitched battle with insurgents since their arrival in the province in 2006, Bashir said "there is not a problem."
"The people there are ready to vote," he said.
But at least two districts in Kandahar are not under the control of government forces, and polling stations may not open.
In Ghowrak district, northwest of Kandahar city, "the security is bad; it's dangerous," Salizai said. "We're trying to open poll booths so people can vote."
But Afghan voters may have to cast their ballots outside the district, he said.
Yet Zazai said southern Afghanistan is not as dangerous as perceived.
"It's not as dangerous as you guys think. We have total control in our area and we have new troops for the election," he told The Canadian Press.
