Taliban threaten voters

Taliban threaten Afghan voters in November runoff
AP

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Afghan runoff ballots getting delivered Play Video AP – Afghan runoff ballots getting delivered

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U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat AP – U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at …
By HEIDI VOGT and ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writers Heidi Vogt And Robert H. Reid, Associated Press Writers – 45 mins ago

KABUL – Taliban militants threatened Afghans with violence Saturday if they vote in the Nov. 7 runoff presidential election, as President Hamid Karzai's campaign ruled out any power-sharing deal to avoid another ballot.

Supporters of Karzai's challenger, meanwhile, urged the country's top three election officials to step down — alleging they were involved in rigging the first round of fraud-marred voting in August and should not be responsible for organizing the upcoming vote.

President Barack Obama's administration is hoping the runoff will produce a legitimate government after massive ballot-rigging sullied the first-round vote Aug. 20. Another flawed election would cast doubt on the wisdom of sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops to support a weak government tainted by fraud.

The Taliban issued their warning on the first official day of campaigning for the runoff, denouncing the contest between Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah as "a failed, American process."

They said fighters would "launch operations against the enemy and stop people from taking part" in the election, warning that anyone who casts a ballot "will bear responsibility for their actions."

Taliban fighters killed dozens of people during the August balloting, firing rockets at several provincial cities and cutting off voters' ink-stained fingers that indicated they had cast ballots.

The new threat adds pressure on U.S. and Afghan commanders to protect voters — one of the manifold challenges facing Afghanistan's government and its international partners in organizing another election in less than three weeks. American commanders say the Afghans will bear the primary responsibility, with U.S. and NATO forces advising and standing by in case they're needed.