Afghanistan: Blast hits car transporting electoral staff, but registration continues

A vehicle transporting national electoral field coordinators in Afghanistan exploded in an unexplained blast on Saturday near Jalalabad, but the country's voter registration drive continues, a United Nations spokesman reported today.

Speaking to the press in Kabul, Manoel de Almeida e Silva said it was not yet clear whether the four staffers and their driver, who all escaped with only minor injuries before their car was engulfed in flames, were deliberately attacked. “It could have been just a mine that was there and the vehicle hit it or it could have been a targeted attack by remote control device,” he said.

The Government is investigating and deminers have been sent to the area to determine whether the blast was caused by a mine or a remote controlled improvised explosive device, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Meanwhile, over 2 million Afghans have been registered so far, including over 600,000 women.

Jean Arnault, the UN envoy to Afghanistan, has welcomed the news that members of Hezb-i-Islami, who recently announced their commitment to renounce the use of violence and join the peace process, have made known their intention to register and participate in the elections.

Hezb-i-Islami leaders are expected to register on Monday in Kabul.

Mr. de Almeida e Silva stressed that the electoral process “is indeed inclusive and open to all Afghans irrespective of political affiliation who wish to exercise their constitutional right to elect and to be elected.”

Recent incidents of violence, he pointed out, “have so far not had any impact on the planning for voter registration.”

At the same time, he stressed that the issue of security is being taken “very seriously.”

Earlier this month, two international staff and their Afghan interpreter were killed while scouting locations for voter registration sites in the country's mountainous northeast.