英语文摘：Afghanistan beefs up security for upcoming elections

KABUL, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the parliamentary elections, the Afghan government has comprehensively beefed up security to ensure peaceful environment for the voters to use their franchise, Deputy to the Interior Ministry Munir Mohammad Mangal said Friday.

"Since now, as we're talking, the Afghan National Police (ANP) forces have been deployed to all polling centers across the country and would spare no efforts in ensuring security for voters and electoral officers," Mangal told a news conference here.

Afghanistan's second parliamentary elections since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001, is to be held amid tight security on Sept. 18.

Calling on Afghans to participate in Saturday's polls, Mangal said ANP in coordination with the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Security Directorate personnel and NATO-led forces would provide Afghans the secure environment for voting process.

However, Mangal confirmed that a candidate was kidnapped earlier in the day in country's eastern Laghman province, saying police is trying to find the candidate and arrest the culprits behind the kidnapping.

He said that over 7,000 women including hundreds of female police officers had been tasked to body search of women voters on the election day to avoid any possible terrorist attacks.

Police are seen in Kabul and other big cities to increase their patrols and are vigilant to tackle any untoward incidents.

To ensure security for the voting day in Taliban birthplace Kandahar, the local authorities, according to provincial governor Tooryali Weesa, have imposed curfew effective from midnight Friday.

Mangal said that besides over 52,000 police deployed on over 5, 800 polling center across the country, thousands of reserved police forces are on high alert to deal with any possible security threats on the polling sites.

Meanwhile, Taliban-linked activities claimed the life of one NATO soldier and injured five others elsewhere in the country. A candidate escaped a bomb attack in northern Kunduz province while his man sustained injuries.

Furthermore, a grenade attack in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on Friday left one person dead and three others injured. Taliban militants also, by pasting night letters on the walls in their birthplace Kandahar province, warned locals not to participate in the voting process on Saturday.

Over 2,500 candidates with some 400 of them women had registered to secure seat in the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of the Afghan parliament in post-Taliban country. However, Taliban militants vowed to derail the electoral process and called on Afghans to boycott it.

Chief election commissioner Fazal Ahmad Manawi, President Hamid Karzai and Abduollah Abdullah, the opposition leader and Karzai's main challenger in last year's presidential elections, have urged Afghans to widely participate in the balloting and thus strengthening democracy in the post-Taliban country.